India to Surpass USA in Metro Rail Network in 2 Years : Khattar
Mr. Khattar along with Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav flagged off the metro rail in Bhopal and travelled on the metro’s new 6.22 km-seven km “Orange Line” priority corridor
Bhopal: Union minister for housing and urban affairs Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday said that India is set to become the world’s second-largest metro rail network in the next two years after China by surpassing the USA.
Speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of metro rail service in Bhopal, Mr. Khattar informed that India’s operational metro network has now exceeded 1,000 km across 23 cities, catering to the need of 1.20 crore commuters daily.
“India will surpass the USA in the metro rail network when the country completes even one third of the 900 km of lines in pipeline and under construction, in the next two years”, he said.
China is currently way ahead of other countries with 10,000 km of urban rail transit.
The inauguration ceremony officially marked Bhopal as India’s 26th city with an operational metro network.
Mr. Khattar along with Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav flagged off the metro rail in Bhopal and travelled on the metro’s new 6.22 km-seven km “Orange Line” priority corridor.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video message played on the occasion praised the development of infrastructure projects across the country and the state.
Mr. Khattar said that the government has set a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 and undertaken several measures such as encouragement to last-mile connectivity to discourage private vehicle use for reaching metro stations, conversion of crop stubble to fuel pallets, introduction of electric buses and promotion of prefabricated construction.
Earlier, addressing the Regional Meeting of Urban Development Ministers (northern and Central states) here in the morning, Mr. Khattar said that the budget received from the Central government by the states for the development of cities should be utilized in a timely manner.
He said that by the year 2047, India’s urban population is estimated to reach 50 percent of the total population and the dream of a developed and self-reliant nation can materialize only when the urban plans are implanted keeping this in mind.
He said that the Ministry of Urban Affairs has decided to hold region-wise meetings of states in the country for better implementation of the plans.
The meeting was also attended by urban development ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and minister of state, Government of India.
