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NEW DELHI: In a move to fast track the ambitious rapid rail network across National Capital Region, the union cabinet on Thursday cleared the proposal to set up a company to undertake the task of laying inter-city train network on the lines of Delhi Metro. Of the eight identified stretches, three priority corridors which the government plans to complete by 2017, will cost Rs 72,000 crore.Though it will take at least four years for high-speed inter-city trains to be operational, there are signs that this will immediately boost realty business in the NCR. Properties, which do not find buyers in areas like Kundli, will become attractive. Developers in this region were banking on this announcement for a long time.

The three priority stretches are Delhi-Panipat, Delhi-Gurgaon-Alwar and Delhi-Meerut. These corridors will cover 381 km.

The government said the company -- National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC) - will start functioning with a seed capital of Rs 100 crore. While the Centre will contribute 50% of the seed capital, four partner states in the NCR - Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan - will contribute the rest. NCRTC will be set up within two months.

The company will be responsible for designing, developing, implementing, financing, operating and maintaining Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS). It may form subsidiary companies to implement each corridor, an official release said. To kickstart the work, NCR Planning Board recently decided to provide Rs 200 crore for this project. "Our focus is to push work on the ground. Any delay in taking up work would be costly. The focus is to start from somewhere," NCRPB member secretary Naini Jayaseelan said.