PUMTA to determine who will execute Loni Kalbhor extension : Maha-Metro or PMRDA

Although the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro) has expressed interest in these routes, the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) has submitted a feasibility report for the extension of the metro from Shivajinagar to Loni Kalbhor and Race Course to Swargate. This has left the question of which organization will take on the project unanswered. 

The Pune Integrated Metropolitan Transport Authority (PUMTA) will make a decision on the issue, but it is unlikely that it will happen after the Lok Sabha (LS) elections are over.

In a public-private partnership (PPP) with the Tata Group, the PMRDA is currently building the Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar metro line. There are plans to extend this line to Loni Kalbhor and Swargate. The PMRDA first expressed doubts regarding the extensions’ viability under the PPP model, and it requested project development plans from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the extensions. Concurrently, the Maha-Metro suggested a path that would pass through Swargate, Hadapsar, and Loni Kalbhor on its way from Khadakwasla to Kharadi. The Pune Metro is being carried out by the Maha-Metro under an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) framework. It was decided to combine the efforts of the PMRDA and Maha-Metro as they submitted their plans to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

In order to evaluate the viability of the extensions on a PPP basis, the PMRDA took the initiative to appoint a transaction advisor, and the advisor’s report was submitted to the PUMTA.

According to a PMRDA official, they received a report on the viability of the Loni Kalbhor metro extension from the transaction advisor. The advisor stated in the report that the PPP model allows for the extension route to be implemented. The divisional commissioner has received the report, and a decision will be made during the PUMTA meeting.

However, according to Maha-Metro sources, the company has prepared a detailed project report (DPR) for the Swargate-Loni Kalbhor metro line, in which the Hadapsar Gadital Chowk and the Nobile Hospital Chowk both mention the Saswad extension and the Kharadi extension. According to the sources, the DMRC produced a DPR outlining why the PPP model is not workable for the extensions. The possibility of using a PPP model for the Loni Kalbhor extension had also been rejected by the central government agency. The sources revealed that the PMRDA had also received the same response from other agencies.

However, urban development officials have called a meeting of the Maha-Metro and PMRDA officials for the Swargate-Loni Kalbhor extension after the transaction advisor appointed by the PMRDA submitted a report stating that the PPP model is feasible for the Loni Kalbhor extension. Over the past two weeks, one such meeting took place in Delhi.

The PMRDA uses a third rail system, whereas the Maha-Metro currently uses an overhead equipment system for its metro trains. Future growth may be impacted by this because utilizing both systems in one city would make connectivity more difficult. Any additional Maha-Metro growth would have to follow the overhead system, but any additional Maha-Metro growth would have to follow the third rail system. As a result, it doesn’t seem possible to connect the two metro systems in the future.