Metro rail services in India have registered significant expansion in the past decade, with the cities having metro rail connectivity increasing from five in 2014 to 21 cities at present, according to Manohar Lal, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs.
He said that in the last ten years of the Narendra Modi regime, close to 700 kilometers of new metro lines have been constructed, taking the total length of the metro network to 945 kilometers.
The Cabinet's recent approval for three new mass-transit projects thus adds to the integral ring Metro Rail Project corridor in Thane, besides two metro network extensions—one in Pune and another in Bengaluru—for a total length of 78 kilometers. Completion is expected in 2029 and shall make critical contributions toward the already considerably long metro network of India, which is the third in the world after that in the USA and China.
"We are on course to leave behind the US and become the second-biggest metro network in the world because of the success of Make in India initiative," the minister said.
He added that the other priority corridors such as Gurugram, Manesar, Dharuhera, Sonepat, to Panipat will be approved shortly.
He reiterated the fast speed of metro development, saying less than 600 meters of metro line were being built per month before 2014. It increased to 6 kilometers per month in the last ten years.
India has also developed four state-of-the-art facilities for manufacturing metro coaches; it has produced more than 1,000 coaches in the last five years to cater to Metro systems across the country.
On the international front, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has metro projects in Bangladesh and consultancy services running in Jakarta. Other countries, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and El Salvador, are said to be interested in associating with DMRC in their respective metro development programs.
Read also | Hemant Soren Accuses BJP of Using Financial Tactics to Disrupt Family and Party
Read also | VP Dhankhar Calls for Prioritizing National Interest Over Political Gains
