Visakhapatnam: The Vizag Metro Rail project, which has been on the backburner for the last two years, may see some progress in 2017 as the state government has recently assigned the responsibility of the project to the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (Vuda). The total cost of the project was pegged at '13,000 crore and Vuda will raise about 13 per cent of the funds required for the project by likely auctioning its lands in the city.
Citing concerns over the financial viability of the project, the Union government relegated it into a hiatus of about eight months, even after the state Cabinet approved the DPR prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). But the Union government has finally given its nod to go ahead with this project after repeated pleas from the state government in July 2016.
Managing director of Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation Limited N. Ramakrishna Reddy, who is also acting as an in-charge for the Vizag Metro project, during his recent visit to the city informed that they would take the project further in the public-private partnership mode. Mr. Reddy said that it would take about four years to complete it.
The Vizag metro project was first proposed even before state bifurcation and the Vijayawada Metro project, keeping in view of the projected increase of population. But the project works of the Vijayawada Metro are way ahead of the Vizag Metro. The Union Budget notionally allocating only Rs 3 lakh in February, 2016 for this big-ticket project has also attracted sharp criticism from the Opposition parties and annoyance of Vizagites. However, the government diligently working on the project in the last few months has given some hope to people over initiation of the project.
