In the Union Budget 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 18,000 crore scheme, in a bid to revamp public transport in urban areas. Of that, nearly a fourth, Rs 4,472 crore, is allotted to the much-publicised Delhi-Meerut route. Last year Rs 2,487 crore was allocated to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC). This year, Rs 4,472 crore has been allocated to NCRTC, nearly double of what was allocated last year. A total of Rs 6,959 crore has been allocated by the central government so far for the Delhi-Meerut regional rapid transit system (RRTS) project. In the Union Budget, the government highlighted the rapid expansion of metro train services all across the country. A total of 702 km conventional metro is already operational, and an additional 1,016 km metro and RRTS is being developed in 27 cities. There are 24 stations in the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor and two depots at Modipuram and Duhai. This RRTS corridor originating from Sarai Kale Khan RRTS station in Delhi ends at Modipuram (Meerut) in Uttar Pradesh. 4th Indian Cement Review Conference 202117-18 March Click for event infoMake in Steel 202124 February Click for event infoTravel time between Delhi to Meerut is expected to be less than 60 minutes, once construction of the RRTS corridor is completed. The corridor's priority section is targeted to be operationalised by 2023 and the entire corridor by 2025. The formation of the viaduct has gained momentum at the priority section. Foundation work of all the four RRTS stations has been completed. The construction of the first power Receiving Sub Station (RSS) has already started in Murad Nagar. All system and sub-system contracts have already been awarded and are under implementation. Also read: Chinese firm awarded part of Delhi-Meerut RRTS project Also read: Alstom gets $129 mn contract for Delhi-Meerut RRTSImage source