Chennai Metro Rail Limited has not raised any demand for Central Finance Assistance for the ₹63,246 crore Chennai Metro Phase II project, said Manohar Lal, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Chennai Metro Phase II project has been sanctioned by the Central Government.. Central Funds for Metro projects are released based on the requirement posed by concerned.

Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) implementing the project and fulfilment of requisite conditions contained in sanction order, the minister said in response to a question in the Lok Sabha raised by Tamil Nadu MP K Gopinath on metro train project in the State.

Gopinath wanted to know whether it is true that the Centre has sanctioned ₹63,000 crore for the execution of Phase-II of the Chennai Metro Rail project and no funds have been released so far for the said project till now.

Integral part

Urban transport, which is an integral part of urban development, is a State subject. State Governments/Union Territory administration (UT) are responsible for initiating and developing urban transport infrastructure including metro rail projects.

Based on the proposals of the Tami Nadu government, projects having a route length of 173 km worth ₹85,395 crore have been sanctioned by the Centre for Chennai under Phase-I/Extension and Phase- II. Out of the above, presently, 54 km of Metro Network covered under phase-I and phase-I extension is already operational.

The State government has submitted Detailed Project Report for Coimbatore and Madurai metro rail projects in February 2024. However, Comprehensive Mobility Plan and Alternative Analysis Report, which is pre- requisite for the appraisal process, has been submitted only December 5.

Metro projects being cost intensive, the approval requires extensive examination and appraisal at different levels in the Central Government. The approval of such a project is dependent upon feasibility of proposal and availability of resources.