Lucknow Metro will be built on PPP model, says Akhilesh

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced his government's decision to build the Lucknow Metro, but made no financial allocation for the project in the budget he presented in the Assembly on Tuesday.

The government clarified that the project would be executed through public-private partnership (PPP) and the necessary funding would be arranged after the preparation of the detailed project report (DPR).

A high-level committee had recently visited Hyderabad and Ahmedabad to study the ongoing Metro and Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) in the two cities. Principal Secretary of Urban Development Pravir Kumar, who headed the committee, has submitted the report. On the basis of this report, the government has decided to go in for the Metro.

"Some changes have also been suggested in the alignment of the two proposed corridors in the DPR, which was made by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) earlier," Kumar said.

The DMRC had made the DPR during the previous Mayawati government. It had put the cost of the Metro at Rs 12,671 crore, including Rs 9,519 crore for construction and Rs 3,052 crore as escalation and central taxes.

It proposed a 13 km-long East-West corridor from Charbagh to Basant Kunj on Hardoi Road via Gautam Buddha Marg-Aminabad-Medical University-Chowk and Thakurganj, and a 27-km North-South corridor from Amausi airport to Munshipulia via Hussainganj-Hazratgaj-Parivartan Chowk-Lucknow University-IT crossing-Nishatganj and Polytechnic crossing.

The DMRC had proposed two financial models — its own DMRC funding model and another Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model. However, the Mayawati government shelved the project in view of its high cost.

Besides the Metro, the budget proposes in the state capital a Rs 40-crore railway overbridge connecting Loreto Convent Crossing to Telibagh Road. It will pass by 13, Mall Avenue which is official residence of former chief minister Mayawati, and 12, Mall Avenue, which is the state headquarters of the Bahujan Samaj Party. A provision of Rs 37 crore has been made for the construction of another ROB near Alam Nagar railway station.

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