Union Budget 2024: Over Rs 800 crore for Pune Metro; over Rs 600 for Mula-Mutha river project

The Union budget has projected spending of Rs 814.49 crore for Pune Metro and Rs 689.59 crore for pollution abatement of Mula-Mutha river in 2024–25, giving a boost to the ongoing mega infrastructure projects in the city.

The Union government has allocated Rs 814.49 crore for Pune Metro rail from the loan obtained through European Investment Bank (EIB) in its budget estimates for 2024–25. The EIB has signed a contract to invest EUR 350 million toward the purchase of 102 new Metro cars and EUR 600 million toward the construction of two lines of Pune Metro rail’s Phase 1. The Pune Metro system will expand the reach of the public city transportation network with its 33.2 km of overground and underground tracks and 30 stations.

According to a senior Pune Metro official, work on Phase 1 of the Metro rail project is almost finished, and service along the Shivajinagar to Swargate stretch may begin by the end of the current fiscal year. Phase 1 work is almost finished. The Union government has allocated funds for Phase I work in its budget, taking into account the current state of work completion.

The proposal to extend the route from Swargate to Katraj is still pending with the Union government, which a few months ago extended the route from Pimpri Chinchwad to Nigdi. The second phase of the Metro project, which would expand the rail network from Sinhagad Road to Nagar Road via Solapur Road and extend the current route to Wagholi on Nagar Road, Chandni Chowk on Paud Road, and Sinhagad Road via Warje, has also been proposed by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

A senior PMC official said that the Union government has budgeted Rs 689.59 crore for the Mula-Mutha River pollution abatement project for the upcoming fiscal year, recognizing the project’s rapid progress. The civic organization has already commenced work on the project and has finished forty percent of it thus far. To guarantee that no untreated sewage water is discharged into rivers, 11 Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) are being built throughout the city, along with 55,000 km of sewage lines.