On Sunday, amid a face-off with the Centre over a proposed Delhi Metro fare hike, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal offered to takeover the DMRC to make it more efficient. He also claimed that his government was ready to provide half the funds needed to meet the gap in its finances.
In a letter to the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Kejriwal said that the Centre bore Kolkata Metro’s entire loss and it should be no trouble to provide half the funds in case of Delhi.
As you know, the central government and the Delhi government are 50-50 owners of the DMRC and its equity, etc, have been shared in this proportion all along... Let an assessment be made of the financial gap likely to be created on account of the postponement of the second fare hike and we will be able to bear half of it.
In his letter the Delhi CM said, “My government is willing to bear half the grant if only a matching grant is provided by the central government.”
Sources in the Delhi government said the CM offered to provide on a short-term basis half the funds the DMRC needed to meet the gap in its finances so that another FFC could be setup to recommend fresh fares.
Besides cooperative federalism, the point remains that the Centre and Delhi government are equal partners in the DMRC, Kejriwal said.
“Shell out Rs 15,000 crore to Hold Metro Hike,” Puri to Delhi Govt
On Friday, Union Minister Puri told the Delhi government that it would need to pay Rs 3,000 crore annually for five years if it wanted to stop the metro fare hike.
Pointing out liabilities to JICA (Japan International Corporation Agency) in terms of loan repayment and operational costs of the DMRC, Puri said that an alternative is to provide upto Rs 15,000 to the DMRC as grants-in-aid and setup another fare fixation committee.
Kejriwal said that Puri’s contention that the central government was “powerless” with regard to fare fixation was “flawed”. Citing Section 86 of the DMRC Act, he said that it was the Centre that had setup committee after a lapse of seven years.
He said the city government was confident it would be able to fund the DMRC by improving its efficiency rather than effecting steep fare hikes.
Second Increase in Seven Months
The FFC-recommended fare hike, a second in seven months, will come into effect on 10 October. Earlier in May, the minimum fare was increased from Rs 8 to Rs 10, and the maximum fare spiked from Rs 30 to Rs 50.
This time, fares will go up by a maximum of Rs 10.
The existing fare structure is: upto 2 kms – Rs 10, 2-5 kms – Rs 15, 5-12 kms – Rs 20, 12-21 km – Rs 30, 21-32 kms – Rs 40 and for journeys beyond 32 kms – Rs 50.
From 10 October, for a distance of up to two kilometres, the fare will remain Rs 10, but for a distance between two and five kilometres, it will go up from Rs 15 to Rs 20. For the subsequent slabs, it will go up by Rs 10 each, which means the maximum fare will be Rs 60.
Delhi Metro managing director Mangu Singh also met the chief minister at his residence on Sunday. It was not immediately known as to what transpired at the meeting.
(With Inputs from PTI)
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