Decks cleared for ₹8,312-cr Pune metro project

The state cabinet in Maharashtra has decided to hand over three plots of government land in Pune to the Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) as part of its viability gap funding of ₹812 crore for the proposed metro rail project starting from Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar. The state government will be handing over 53.94 acres in response to PMRDA's demand across various locations in the city for the mega project involving an estimated cost of ₹8,312 crore for the Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar route. The state government is supposed to provide ₹812 crore as financial assistance to the metro rail project, hence the decision to provide land for raising funds instead of direct financial assistance. Accordingly, the PMRDA sought 54.14 acres of government land alongside the proposed metro rail route for raising funds through commercial and business use. The development authority said it was necessary and inevitable to get government land to raise funds for the project. In October 2018, the state government issued a work order for the proposed 23-km metro line 3 from Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar with the contract being granted to a joint venture of Tata and Siemens. The project is based on a public private partnership model to decongest traffic in the city by improving connectivity within the metropolitan region