Maharashtra plans Metro line from DN Nagar to Mandale by 2019.

The state government has decided to add another ambitious project to the long list of showpiece multi-crore infrastructure works it plans to complete before the 2019 Assembly elections - a new 23.6-km elevated Metro line in Mumbai.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), headed by the chief minister, recently approved draft plans for a new east-west Metro corridor from DN Nagar in Andheri to Mandale near Mankhurd, expected to cater to 10.49 lakh commuters by 2031.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 10,970 crore, including land acquisition cost of Rs 1,274 crore, which the government has decided to finance through MMRDA funds, loans, premium on additional Floor Space Index (FSI) and a stamp duty surcharge, among other measures.

The state government has promised to roll out an over 100-km Metro network in Mumbai by 2019. Besides, it is also targeting the 2019 deadline for several other crucial projects, many of which have been pending for years. These include the Navi Mumbai International Airport, one phase of the Nariman Point-Kandivli coastal road and the Sewri-Nhava Sheva Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, an elevated Metro line from Dahisar East to Andheri East, another from Dahisar to DN Nagar, and one phase of the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro.

“The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) prepared a detailed project report for the DN Nagar-Mandale Metro line and submitted it to us in February this year. Since we have set a target of 2019 to complete the project, we have decided that the MMRDA will finance the entire civil work, while we will take loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the rest,” a senior government official said. The MMRDA will have to set aside Rs 3,770 crore of the total project cost. The official said the government has had discussions with ADB representatives and they had in-principle agreed to finance the Metro line.

The state government is in talks with the ADB to finance two other Metro projects as well — a 16.5-km line from Andheri East to Dahisar East and an 18.5-km corridor from Dahisar. The DN Nagar-Mandale Metro with 22 stations will be an extension of the Dahisar East-DN Nagar line and will have interoperability with the Dahisar East-Andheri East Metro as well.

'With the cumulative length of all the three Metro lines to be taken up being over 60 km, the authority has also approved an initial tariff of Rs 10-80 for all the three corridors in eight slabs. Commuters will have to shell out the highest fare of Rs 80 only for travel over 42 km,” the official said.

Like the other Metro lines planned, the development authority will also raise funds for the DN Nagar-Mandale Metro line by giving additional FSI up to 500 m on either side of the alignment for a premium, which will be shared between the MMRDA and BMC. Besides, the MMRDA will also raise funds through a surcharge on stamp duty for real estate transactions, commercial exploitation of the line and so on.

THE INDIAN EXPRESS