UP govt agencies to fund Lucknow Metro rail Phase I
The work on the much-awaited Metro rail in Lucknow is planned to be commenced next month. The funds for the project will be provided by three Uttar Pradesh government agencies- UP Awas Vikas Parishad (AVP), Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) and Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC).
About the project
The Metro rail project for the state’s capital Lucknow was given green signal by the cabinet in June this year. The work on the North-South corridor (Lucknow Metro 1st phase) is likely to start from next month and is expected to be completed in two years.
In the first phase, the metro train would move in about 23 km-stretch from the Chaudhary Charan Singh Amausi Airport to Munshi Puliya. According to official sources, Official sources have said that the Lucknow Metro will run on standard measure and will ply 1,574 passengers in one run.
State govt directs agencies to fund the project
The UP government has informed the Centre about its order dated November 19 as per which it has directed the three development agencies of the state to give Rs 350 crore for the metro project. The agencies have already been working towards arranging the funds. While AVP would take funds from its Awadh Vihar Housing Yojna, UPSIDC is almost ready to take approval from its board. The time span for the funds provided by the agencies would be three financial years.
Provision of funds by the three agencies would span over three financial years – from 2013-14 to 2015-16. While AVP has been asked to give Rs 200 crore, LDA will have to provide Rs 100 crore in the form of grants and UPSIDC is asked to give Rs 50 crore in the form of equity stakes for the special purpose vehicle (SPV) – Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC), which has been formed to implement the Metro project.
A similar funding model has been followed by Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai and other cities, in which the development authorities and housing agencies have collected funds for the project.
The Government Order (GO) describes fund amount from every department. It has directed that each agency has to allocate 20 percent of the funds this year, 40 percent in the next year and the remaining 40 percent in the third year. Accordingly, AVP would disburse Rs 40 crore, LDA Rs 20 crore and UPSIDC 10 crore in 2013-14.
Why should the agencies give funds?
Earlier, some of the engineers of the agencies had protested against the funding liability of the prime section of Lucknow Metro. But the Metro cell officials denied to allocate funds themselves and said that, since metro network benefits a large section of the society and also the three agencies in the longer run, it is their responsibility to provide financial aid for the project.
However, the Metro cell is looking to avail a large part of funds from the Central government as well as a foreign aiding agency, which lends financial aid to such large projects.
