Noida-Greater Noida Metro link to cost less than estimate

NOIDA: More than a month after Dr Mangu Singh, Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said that the 29.7 km under-construction Noida-Greater Noida

Metro link

will be the fastest and most economical corridor constructed in India, TOI has

accessed documents

, which uphold that more than Rs 1,200 crore will be saved by the

Noida Metro Rail Corporation

(NMRC) in the project.

As per the documents, the track, which is to be commissioned by December 2017, will cost Rs 4,261 crores instead of Rs 5,533, the completion cost projected as per the Detailed Project Report (DPR). As per the completion costs accessed, the average per kilometer cost of the Noida-Greater Noida Metro corridor will be Rs 143 crore.

If compared to the other Metros in Uttar Pradesh, while the Ghaziabad Metro is to cost Rs 2,208 for a 9.41 Km elevated stretch and will average a cost of Rs 234.64 per kilometer, the 23-km Lucknow Metro in the first phase will come at a total cost of Rs 6,928 and will cost about Rs 302.82 crore per kilometer.

Costs for the Noida-Greater Noida Metro corridor have been minimized by adopting several value-added techniques and engineering feats. The maximum saving has been done in reducing costs for signaling and telecommunication systems for the under-construction route. While the total completion cost was to be Rs 827.21 crores, the saving is being estimated at Rs 480.89 crores. The alignment, track and stations will also record a saving of 22.43% (336 crores), 18.66% (77 crore) and 10.35% (57.75 crores), respectively.

The rolling stock meanwhile will also save Rs 154.12 crores. While the rolling stock was to come at Rs 637.27 crores as per the DPR, the completion cost is being averaged at Rs 483.15 crores.

The Noida-Greater Noida Metro is moving at a super-fast pace. So far DMRC has already put into place more than 24 km of the viaduct out of the 29.7 km of the corridor.