BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath laid the foundation for the Rs 7500.80-crore Indore Metro Rail Project in Indore on Saturday.
Under the project, a 31.55-km-long metro rail corridor will be developed in Indore – which is considered the commercial capital of the central Indian state. Out of the 30 stations comprising the corridor, 26 will be elevated, while four will be underground.
The four sections of the project conceived during the tenure of the erstwhile BJP government in the state will be completed by August 2023.
Addressing the occasion, the MP CM recounted that when he was the urban development and housing minister at the centre ten years back, he had given the nod for the metro rail projects for Indore and Bhopal and asked then state government to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) for the project – which was a must for rapidly expanding city.
“The construction of the Indore metro rail corridor and its maintenance will generate employment opportunities in Indore and neighbourhood. It will also reduce road accidents and render more secured and rapid mode of transport to the rapidly growing city,” said Nath.
He added that after completion of the project, adjoining districts, including Dhar, Ujjain and Dewas, besides Rau town of Indore too will be linked through it.
Meanwhile, the opposition BJP claimed the credit for the Indore Metro Rail Project. The party’s state spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal tweeted “the Indore and Bhopal metro rail projects were cleared by the union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 3, 2018. Half of the funding of the project will be done by the central government, while six directors and chairman of the metro rail corporation have been decided by the centre only. It was at the initiative of the erstwhile BJP government in the state.”