Thaindian News

Chandigarh, June 22 (IANS) The Punjab cabinet Wednesday approved the detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed Ludhiana Metro Rail project, a state government spokesman said here Wednesday.

The cabinet also gave its nod for the execution of the metro project in the Public- Private Partnership (PPP) or Build Operate Transfer (BOT) model.

The DPR, prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), was placed before the cabinet at its meeting held here. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal chaired the meeting.

The Punjab government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the DMRC for the Ludhiana Metro project in October 2007.

The state government had, at that time, claimed that the DPR would be prepared and submitted by DMRC within six months. The project’s first phase, proposed to be 25 km long, was estimated to cost Rs 3,000 crore at that time.

DMRC Managing Director E. Sreedharan had then said that the Ludhiana metro would have a capacity of carrying 4.8 lakh people daily.

However, the DPR has been submitted and approved only at the fag end of the present tenure of the Badal-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

Punjab goes for assembly elections in February-March next year.

Ludhiana, the biggest industrial and commercial city of Punjab, faces numerous problems due to traffic congestion and pollution. With vehicle density being one of the highest in the country, roads in the city remain clogged most of the time.

The city, located 110 km from here, is referred to as the ‘Manchester of Asia’ and has a population of over 3.5 million.