India to invest Rs 200,000 crore in Metro rail in 10 years

BANGALORE: India would invest Rs 2 lakh crore in the Metro rail system in the next 10 years, with eight more cities coming under the mass transport system during this period, Delhi Metro Rail Corp MD E Sreedharan said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of function here, where BEML rolled out India's first standard guage metro cars, he said Rs 80,000 crore had so far either been invested or committed to ongoing metro rail projects.

"In all, an investment of Rs 200,000 crore will be made in the country on metro rail in next 10 years," he said.

Besides Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai, projects will be launched in Pune, Lucknow, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Kochi, Indore and Chandigarh, he said.

BEML, Sreedharan said, would henceforth have a greater say in getting metro projects as its R&D centre was coming up here, which would bring down indigenisation costs. Coaches made by BEML would cost Rs 5.5 crore, nearly 10 per cent less than imported ones, he said.

"Meanwhile BEML will have a competitor in European metro major Embrair, which is setting up a facility in Baroda soon."

On launch of metro project in Kochi in Kerala, he said it was awaiting the Centre's clearance. The state government has cleared it and handed it over to DMRC on a turnkey basis. On Hyderabad metro, he said the state still wanted to go on Build, Operate and Transfer mode involving the private sector.

"Metro rail is highly capital intensive and it is difficult to attract private investment as it will not be viable for passengers," he said.