Title - Punjab, Haryana nod to MoU for Chandigarh Metro SPV soon

Chandigarh: Punjab and Haryana are expected to convey their formal acceptance of a MoU for setting up of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the implementation of metro project in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula.

This was stated at a meeting held on Friday under the Chairmanship of Adviser to the UT Administrator in the UT Secretariat to review the progress of the multi-crore project.

The format of MoU circulated by Union ministry of urban development to Chandigarh and the two state governments was considered by the senior officers present in the meeting representing the UT Administration and Punjab and Haryana state governments. The officers found the terms and conditions of the MoU workable and agreed to take the matter forward.

The meeting was attended by TC Gupta, Secretary to Government of Haryana, Department of Town & Country Planning; VK Singh, Secretary Finance-cum-Secretary MRTS, UT Chandigarh; A Venu Prasad, Secretary to Government of Punjab, Department of Urban Planning; Anurag Rastogi, Director General (Department of Town & Country Planning), Government of Haryana; Ajoy Kumar Sinha, Chief Administrator, GMADA, Government of Punjab; Ajoy Sharma, Special Secretary MRTS, UT Chandigarh; SK Chadha, Chief Engineer, UT Chandigarh; and Sumit Kaur, Chief Architect, UT Chandigarh.

With an estimated cost of Rs 10,900 crore, the Metro will cover a distance of 37.57 km connecting City Beautiful with Mohali on one side and Panchkula on the other. The cost of the project will be shared by the Centre, UT Administration, Punjab and Haryana state governments. Haryana has expressed a desire to become a partner with Chandigarh in the project, while the Punjab government will just bear the cost of the project falling in its area. Chandigarh administration plans to take a loan from Japan, which also provided loan for Delhi Metro project.