In a significant stride towards expediting the development of Delhi’s Metro Phase-4, the Delhi Government is poised to ink a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), according to informed officials.
This collaborative agreement aims to streamline the ongoing construction efforts of the three Phase-4 Metro corridors currently under development. In an official statement, the Chief Minister’s Office on Monday said the signing of the MoU was approved by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and is likely to help remove any roadblocks in the construction, with Kejriwal also simultaneously pushing to get the three pending Phase-4 corridors approved soon.
The forthcoming MoU is set to facilitate the seamless transfer of necessary land for Metro construction to the DMRC. Additionally, it outlines the establishment of a high-powered committee (HPC) chaired by the Chief Secretary, comprising secretaries from various government departments. The committee’s mandate is to ensure swift decision-making and actions, thus eliminating potential bottlenecks in the project’s execution.
The three pending Phase-4 corridors, once approved, are poised to augment Delhi’s Metro network by an additional 47.25 kilometres. The ongoing construction is concentrated on the approved Phase-4 corridors, namely Maujpur to Majlis Park, Janakpuri West to RK Ashram, and Tughlakabad to Aerocity.
“With the formalisation of the MoU, impediments hindering the construction of these vital corridors will be swiftly removed. These approved Metro corridors, spanning 65.20 kilometres and encompassing 45 stations, have faced delays in MoU signing, posing a potential risk to timely completion,” stated officials. The MoU, an essential statutory obligation under the Metro Rail Policy, 2017, has faced delays, which could have further impacted the project’s timeline.
Crucial actions outlined in the MoU encompass the leasing and transfer of government land and potential acquisition of private land. Furthermore, it mandates the establishment of a traffic information management control centre for future planning. The MoU remains valid until the project debt is fully repaid, with the Centre and Delhi government holding a 50:50 equity in the Delhi Metro.
“The Delhi government is also trying to get approval for three other corridors pending with the central government under phase four as soon as possible,” officials added.
The three Phase-4 corridors pending approval by the Centre are Rithala-Bawana-Narela, Inderlok-Indraprastha, and Lajpat Nagar-Saket G-Block. Although the Delhi government greenlit all six Phase-4 corridors in December 2018, only three received approval from the Centre in March 2019. The construction commenced towards the end of 2019, with the subsequent pandemic-induced lockdowns impacting the pace of progress.
