LUCKNOW: The Yogi 2.0 government will pump in Rs 2,650 crore for the completion of ongoing Metro projects in Kanpur, Agra , and the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project. Besides, it also allocated Rs 100 crore for the Metro rail projects in Gorakhpur, Varanasi, and other cities.

Finance minister Suresh Kumar Khanna announced that Rs 747 ccrore has been allocated for Kanpur Metro in the current fiscal year, while Rs 597 crore is for Agra Metro.

Besides, a sum of Rs 1,306 crore has been proposed for the construction work of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS Corridor project of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation.

"The government has allocated Rs 747 crore for Kanpur Metro, Rs 597 crore for Agra Metro and Rs 100 crore for Varanasi, Gorakhpur and other Metro rail projects. Since funds are being allocated timely, the Kanpur, Agra projects are going ahead at a brisk pace. The Gorakhpur Metro project will also commence soon," said UPMRC managing director Kumar Keshav.

Another UPMRC official told TOI, "The Kanpur Metro project is worth Rs 11,076 crore of which 50% is being funded by European Investment Bank, and the rest by the Centre and state in 60:40 ratio. The Rs 747 crore allotted in the current fiscal year would be used for constructing the 23.7km stretch from IIT-Kanpur to Naubasta."

The government is pushing to kickstart the Gorakhpur Metro lite project within six months. The Gorakhpur project is awaiting approval of the Union cabinet. The state cabinet and Public Investment Board chaired by Union finance secretary and expenditure had already approved the first phase of the project that will have 14 elevated stations on 15.14 km stretch in the first phase. 

The estimated cost of the first phase is Rs 2,670.37 crore,  which means per km cost of the project is about Rs 167.8 crore. The project is estimated to complete by 2024 and would cater to 15.75 lakh population.

The government has allocated Rs 1,306 crore for the construction of 17km priority corridor of RRTS from Sahibabad to Duhai scheduled to be commissioned by 2023. The The full corridor is likely to complete by 2025.

23 bus stations on PPP model

The development of 23 major bus stations in the state on the lines of Lucknow’s Alambagh bus terminal on public private partnership model is on the cards. Presenting the budget, finance minister Suresh Khanna said, “The state government is committed to providing easy, safe, economical and eco-friendly transport facilities to people. In a passenger - friendly move, UPSRTC has started an online ticketing and information system. The government is providing bus services to Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir, under the inter-state bus service agreement with other states.” An international bus service to Nepal has also been started from Delhi via Mahendranagar, Pokhara and Nepalganj, the minister added.