The Pune Municipal Corporation has given a green signal to the proposal for the second phase of Pune metro rail. The project will entail service from Khadakwasla to Kharadi via Swargate and Hadapsar, Puadphata to Manikbaug via Warje, Ramwadi to Kharadi, and Vanaz to Chandni Chowk.
Phase 2 project
The Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Maha Metro) has been entrusted to implement the extended route proposed in Phase two of Pune Metro. It submitted a detailed project report (DPR) to Pune Municipal Corporation. The Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar has said that the metro rail route from Khadakwasla to Kharadi via Swargate and Hadapsar (25.862 kilometres) and the Paudphata to Manikbaug via Warje route (6.118 kilometres) will be costing Rs 9,074.24 crore. He added that the Maha Metro will be raising a loan of Rs 4,354.84 crore, while the Centre, State and PMC will share the load of the remaining amount.
The 1.112-kilometre metro rail route from Vanaz to Chandni chowk and the 11.633-kilometre route from Ramwadi to Wagholi will cost Rs 3,609.27. For this, the Maha Metro will raise Rs 1,895 crore via loan, while the Centre and State will also contribute towards the project.
The PMC will provide 209.41 square metre area on a temporary basis, and 2,297.17 square metre at Sarasbaug, nehru Stadium, Ganesh Kala Kroda Manchi, on permanent basis to Maha-Metro which is worth Rs 6.77 crore.
The detailed project report for the extended route was first submitted in September last year. However, it was revised and sent to the PMC for approval. The funding plan was also submitted for approval. The route is completely elevated.
As per Kumar, the route will be developed by Maha Metro and the PMC will not give any guarantee for the loan its plans to raise. The PMC will include the metro rail route and its station in the city’s development plan.
In the second phase, the plan aims to increase the rail network by 82.5 kilometre, from Vaaz to Chandni chowk, Ramwadi to Wagholi, SNDT to Warje, Hadapsar to Kharadi, Swargate to Hadapsar, Khadakwasla to Swargate on proposed HCMTR route.
The proposal for Phase 2 will now be sent to the state government for approval, after which it will be sent to the Centre before the actual implementation of the project starts. The proposal to extend the route from Swargate to Katraj and Pimpri Chinchwad to Nigdi is pending approval with the Centre.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation of the first phase of Pune Metro in 2017 and he inaugurated the first stretch of the service last year. The second stretch was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on last Tuesday, August 1, 2023.
