Pune Metro Line 3 is scheduled to be inaugurated on 3 November 2026, with passenger services expected to begin from 4 November, after months of shifting deadlines and uncertainty over the launch of the Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar corridor.
Pune district collector Jitendra Dudi disclosed the uncertainty during a meeting with residents and civic activists from Hinjewadi on 2 November. Speaking about efforts to ensure that the inauguration took place on 3 November, Dudi said the event could have been held only after extensive administrative coordination. He declined to provide further details but said discussions had largely pointed towards an inauguration after Diwali.
The corridor is planned to connect the Hinjewadi information technology hub with Shivajinagar. Of the 23 stations on the route, passenger services are expected to begin from 17 stations, according to the report. The project is considered important for workers and residents travelling through one of Pune’s most congested employment and residential corridors.
The project was originally expected to be completed by March 2025. However, land acquisition, permissions, handover of sites and incomplete station works delayed the schedule. Proposed inauguration windows in March, September and December 2025, followed by March, May and 15 June 2026, did not materialise. An assurance that services would begin in July also remained unfulfilled.
The proposed 15 July launch was postponed because safety certifications and other works were still pending. A target for the first half of September was also not met. The report states that four or five important stations between Balewadi and Shivajinagar still had incomplete works, creating uncertainty over whether the corridor could be inaugurated before every element was ready.
The inauguration schedule was also affected by changes to a planned visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Baramati. The visit, which had been expected to provide an opportunity for the metro inauguration, was cancelled 10 to 12 days before the proposed programme. This disrupted the arrangements being coordinated between the Prime Minister’s Office and the local administration.
According to the report, the Pune district administration maintained regular coordination with the Prime Minister’s Office while the date remained unsettled. Dudi indicated that the inauguration was uncertain until the final stage, even after 3 November emerged as the proposed date. The launch is now scheduled for 3 November, with services expected to commence the following day, subject to the stated operational and safety arrangements.
