The Visakhapatnam Metro Rail Project has already been delayed, but a new policy by the centre will most likely delay it further. The metro rail project has already faced barriers in the form of several policy changes made by the union government.
The central government has announced a new policy in the recent general budget. The policy is to be implemented for all the upcoming railway metro projects. Similar to that of the national policy on transit-oriented development, it focuses on enabling innovative financial solutions like land value capture.
But after the announcement of the implementation of the policy, there has been no progress. A senior official from the Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation Ltd told Times of India that they’re awaiting the metro rail policy to be implemented. The project will be sent to the finance ministry for approval and things will only commence after the same. While a project report was submitted in February, fresh permissions are needed after the policy comes into effect.
The estimated cost of the project stands at Rs 12,500 crore as of now and it includes the construction of three corridors that covers 42.55 KMs in GVMC limits. The official even stated that they are hopeful the existing project report will meet policy guidelines without any major changes.
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