Metro Rail News Online

The Government of India has made Public-Private Partnership (PPP) component mandatory for states for availing central assistance of new metro projects as part of its New Metro Rail Policy, 2017. Private investment and other innovative forms of financing of metro projects have been made compulsory to meet the huge resource demand for capital intensive high capacity metro projects. As per the Metro Policy, “Private participation either for complete provision of metro rail or for some unbundled components (like Automatic Fare Collection, Operation & Maintenance of services etc) will form an essential requirement for all metro rail projects seeking central financial assistance”. This development has raised the question whether PPP model can be successful for metro rail projects in India. The PPP model as a part of the New Metro Policy aims at lessening the burden on the Central government in funding metro projects. This is not the first time that the PPP model has been...

New Delhi: Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday released the new Metro Rail Policy that focuses on minimising the use of personal motorised transport and provides “useful guidance on making viable metro rail proposals”. The policy was approved by the Union Cabinet last... Click here to see more https://goo.gl/cCdXLg

Amaravati: Metroman E. Sreedharan on Thursday reportedly suggested the State government to write to the Centre requesting exemption from new metro rail policy which was adopted by Union Cabinet in third week of July. He opines it will not be easy for the State govt to get  Centre’s nod for light metro. He also advised that it would be better to go for medium metro in lieu of light metro project to Vijayawada as it would be easy to get permission from the Central government as a detailed project report has already under consideration of Union Finance Ministry. Sreedharan met Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar at Secretariat on Thursday. This is the first time Sreedharan came to meet the Chief Minister after he resigned to the post of advisor to State government. The Hans India brought the resignation issue into light first time in July. According to sources, Sreedharan strongly advocated medium metro rail for Vijayawada city a...

New Delhi: The new metro rail policy empowers states, by putting the onus on them to improve project viability by stressing on economic viability and private participation, according to a recent ICRA report. The report elaborated that the viability can be improved by promoting transit-oriented development (TOD) and allying it with real estate development, improving last-mile connectivity as well as attracting private investments. “The new metro rail policy will increase the state government’s role and responsibility in developing the new metro projects,” K Ravichandran, Senior Vice-President and Group-Head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA, said in a statement. The policy provides for rigorous assessment of new metro proposals, including alternate transit mode analysis to ensure that the least-cost and most-efficient mass transit mode is selected for public transport, the report pointed out. Further, it also proposes an independent third-party assessment of proposals by gover...

New Delhi: Public Private Partnership (PPP) model represents a valuable instrument that stimulates infrastructure development in the country. India has witnessed considerable growth in PPPs in the last decade and emerged as one of the leading PPP markets in the world. In view of this, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) organized the fifth edition of the India PPP Summit on 26th July 2017 at Federation House, New Delhi. Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Hon’ble Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Government of India was the Guest of Honor and gave the Inaugural address in the summit. The summit aimed at presenting the Report Card for PPP Projects and providing an opportunity to rebuild the trust deficit amongst the stakeholders. The summit discussed critical issues on existing policy framework and regulations concerning PPPs, fostering partnerships to invigorate PPPs and innovative financing solutions. It also provided an opportunity to el...

Ghaziabad: Nearly a week after the additional chief secretary announced that the state government was contemplating a change in funding pattern of 9.41km metro project, the principal secretary on Friday said that the old pattern would be followed. Though 9.41km metro project is presently in the making, lack of funds could be a major stumbling block. Mukul Singhal, principal secretary (housing), on Friday, visited Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) headquarters and said that the old funding pattern, with the cost being shared by different UP departments, will be continued to fund the 9.41km metro project. “The funding pattern will remain the same and different UP agencies such as Avas Vikas, UP state industrial development corporation, municipal corporation and GDA will contribute their share. I don’t have any knowledge about the new pattern as told by the additional chief secretary. The Metro project will not run into a funds cruch, as the departments will make their paym...

As you know that Government of India has recently approved new Metro Rail Policy to expend metro rail network in various cities of India. Special focus given on public-private-partnership (PPP) model and business opportunities to private sectors. According to policy, Private participation either for complete provision of metro rail or for some unbundled components (like Automatic Fare Collection, Operation & Maintenance of services etc) will form an essential requirement for all metro rail projects seeking central financial assistance, to capitalize on private resources, expertise and entrepreneurship.We at Metro Rail News now started an initiative to update the job seekers, investors, metro rail professionals, engineering & technology experts, private metro operators, rail business consultants, railway equipment manufacturers and suppliers on real-time basis. If you are one of them and seeking jobs and business opportunities in metro railways and smart public transportation s...

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kochi Metro in mid-June, he said that 50 other cities are interested in similar rail systems. This is good news as public transportation is more sustainable than personal cars or motorbikes. It uses up less road space, consumes less fuel, emits fewer pollutants and causes fewer road fatalities. It is for this reason that the National Urban Transport Policy, adopted in 2006, recommended investments in public transport rather than in transport policies that promote greater personal vehicle use. There is a range of public transport options available, including standard metro rail systems and buses, and newer variants such as light rail, bus rapid transit and trams. Each has pros and cons in terms of costs, passenger load, environmental degradation and the ease of making route and scheduling changes in response to demand. City planners should assess the number of passengers who would need to be transported before deciding on the most expen...

New Delhi: E Sreedharan , famously known as the Metro Man, has always been a vocal critic of PPP ( public-private-partnership ). Therefore, his reluctance in executing urban rail projects on PPP mode is not new and if facts are to be believed the 85-year-old’s fear is not misplaced either. Sreedharan in the past had said the construction of  Airport Express Metro would have incurred 20 per cent less expenditure had Delhi Metro built it. In the case of Airport Express, the entire civil structure was done by  Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), accounting for 60 per cent of the cost. He had said the other 40 per cent could also have been done by DMRC with the help of a loan from Japan. The project got delayed on several accounts and was finally salvaged by Sreedharan and launched in February 2011. In the airport line, DMRC invested 55 per cent of the cost (50 per cent of which was borrowed from Japan). Reliance Infrastructure, whi...

New Delhi: The government today approved a new metro rail policy for expanding the metro network across various cities in the country, officials said. The new policy was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The metro policy will talk about standardising norms and developing a procurement mechanism for implementation of the projects. It will also talk about funding and financing, officials said. At present, metro projects with a total length of more than 350 km are operational in eight cities - Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Gurugram. Metro projects are also under way in Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Pune and Lucknow. To read more about the salient features and insights of new Metro Rail Policy , kindly subscribe Metro Rail News Magazine today. [button color="red" size="big" link="https://www.metrorailnews.in/checkout/" icon="" target="true"]Click here to subscribe now[/b...