Nine cities to get 313 km of metro rail connectivity by March 2019
New Delhi: Nine cities will get an additional 313 km of Metro rail connectivity by March 2019, almost double the current 370-km operational length in eight cities since the first metro rail service in 1984 . The cities include Lucknow, Nagpur, Kochi, Hyderabad, Delhi, Noida, Chennai and Bengaluru. According to a media report, close to 537 km of metro tracks are under construction at present. Aside from the Nagpur , Ahmedabad and Lucknow , projects approved by the current National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, the rest were given the go-ahead by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. With respect to funding, the Central and the state governments follow a 50-50 equity venture model. The Centre gives assistance of up to 20 percent of a project"s costs, excluding land costs. It provides 14 percent equity and the subordinate debt accounting for about six percent. The remaining contributions are taken up by the state government in the form of loans. An ...