India to soon have second largest metro network in world: Manohar Lal

India will soon have the second largest metro network in the world, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal has said, underlining that 997 kilometres of metro rail is currently under construction in the country, an official statement stated on Thursday. In his address to consultative committee members of Parliament attached to the HUA ministry on Wednesday, the minister said that the government is working relentlessly to strengthen the urban transport network across the country, the statement stated.

Manohar said that urban mobility is an important aspect to tackle the rising urban population, adding that India will soon have the second largest metro network in the world.

"About 993 kilometres of metro rail is operational in 23 cities across the country and about 997 kilometres is under construction in 28 cities in the country...India is well on its way to have the 2nd largest metro network of the world," the statement quoted the minister as saying.


It stated that the participants of the meeting were briefed about Metro Rail Policy 2017 and metro networks across cities, including Delhi Metro, Jaipur Metro, Patna Metro and Lucknow Metro.

There was also discussion on 'PM-eBus Sewa', the ministry said in the statement and added it is a scheme to augment city bus operations by deploying 10,000 e-buses on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.