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Just before the year ends, there’s some good news for Delhiites.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Wednesday, 19 December, approved the much-awaited Phase-IV project of the Delhi Metro, reported PTI.
For starters, there will be six metro corridors – covering a total distance of 103 km.
Out of the six, three metro corridors – Rithala-Bawana-Narela, Janakpuri West-RK Ashram and Mukundpur-Maujpur – will have elevated roads.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs 45,000 crore. Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, said the government will give its share of Rs 9,707 crore towards the construction work under the project.
The operating losses, if any, would be shared between the Delhi government and the Centre at a ratio of 50:50 for the project.
The approval, given at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Kejriwal, comes around two-and-a-half years after it had given in-principle nod to the Phase-IV project.
The project is expected to be completed by 2024.
The Phase-IV project had become a bone of contention between the AAP government and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government as the former did not give its final nod to the project, even after its in-principle approval to the same in February 2016.
Following the delay, Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, had said in October: "We will open a box of sweets only when a formal announcement for the Metro Phase-IV project is made," reported PTI.
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