Commuters in Mumbai and Bangalore had reason to cheer as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his Budget 2018 speech, allocated dedicated funds to improve the transport infrastructure in these cities.
To improve intra-city connectivity in the financial capital of India, the government announced the expansion of the Mumbai suburban train network, spread over 465km, at a cost of Rs 11,000 Crores. It also announced plans to allocate Rs 40,000 Crores for the city’s rail network.
The suburban railway in Mumbai operates 2,342 local train services and carries more than 7.5 million commuters daily.
“The government has shown special focus on developing connectivity in Mumbai by strengthening and expanding the rail network,” says Mayur Shah, Managing Director, Marathon Group and President CREDAI MCHI.
For Bangalore, which goes to the polls later this year, a suburban network of 160km is planned. Moreover, the government has decided to allocate Rs 17,000 Crore for the city’s Metro network. At present, Phase I of Namma Metro is operational while the second phase is expected to be completed by 2021.
Bullet train project
It was proposed that an institute would be set up in Vadodara for the project management and administration of India’s first high-speed rail project – the bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. One of the major projects of the present government, it is expected to be completed by 2023.
Sea routes
As part of the government’s flagship ‘Sagarmala’ programme, more than 400 projects have been identified for implementation. This programme has the following measures planned:
- Setting up of over six mega ports
- Modernisation of several ports
- Development of over 14 coastal economic zones
- Development of mines
- Industrial corridors, rail, road, and airport linkages
These proposed projects hopefully should spur infrastructure development in two of India’s most crowded cities.
