60 percent of Ahmedabad metro rail funding to come from realty sector

A critical aspect of the Rs 3,400 crore metro rail project is that close to 60% of the funding — between Rs 2,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore — will come from real estate development along the corridor. The urban development department will plan a policy, which involves special development regulations for areas earmarked within a specific radius of the metro corridor.

The concept called Transit Oriented Development (TOD) means that development within 100 metres and 500 metres to 800 metres around the metro rail may accommodate high-density residential or commercial hubs. These high-density development projects will fuel the metro with people coming to work and living along the corridor.

To make the metro rail project economically viable, a concept of the metro transporting local freight between destinations within the city is also being proposed. A similar system exists in the US. Sources claim that the metro can tap 15-18% of freight movement within the Ahmedabad, which happens on weekdays.

Besides, senior officers at MEGA pointed out that the height of the metro rail elevated corridor would not be as high as they are in Delhi. This has been decided keeping in mind the future need of building multi-level flyovers. In addition, MEGA is planning a broad-gauge network.

Corridor space finalized

“Only two pieces of land remain to be acquired for the project,” an AMC official said. “These are a plot near a CNG pump station in Ranip and a small piece of land near a heritage structure under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Paldi.” The total metro route will be 32.65 kilometres while the Gandhinagar–Koba circle will be 18 kilometres, he said.

Source: The Times of India, Ahmedabad