Ballabgarh-Palwal Metro extension gets Haryana government nod

On Tuesday, the Haryana government approved the final feasibility report for extending the Metro line between Ballabgarh in Faridabad and Palwal. The detailed project report for the 35.25-km stretch linking Gurugram Sector 56 to Panchgaon is now being sent to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The proposed corridor will feature 28 stations and will connect to the Namo Bharat network.

This comes during the 66th board meeting of the Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation (HMRTC), chaired by Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi. The managing director of HMRTC, Ajay Kumar, briefed the board on two proposed Namo Bharat corridors. These include the 136.3-km Delhi-Panipat-Karnal corridor, which is estimated to cost Rs 33,051.15 crore and will have 17 proposed stations.

Additionally, a Gurugram-Faridabad-Noida-Greater Noida Namo Bharat corridor is under consideration, with alignments and station locations finalized at the state level. These approvals are part of a broader effort to expand Gurugram's Metro network, which has not seen significant extensions beyond the HUDA City Centre in over a decade.

The existing 28.5-km Millennium City Centre-Cyber City corridor is currently being executed by Gurugram Metro Rail Limited (GMRL) at a cost of Rs 5,452 crore, with plans for a spur from Basai village to the Dwarka Expressway. GMRL has also invited bids for a Rs 1,662-crore civil construction package for the Sector 9 to Cyber City Metro station stretch.

Ridership and revenue for the Gurugram Rapid Metro have shown a rise, with 88.81 lakh passengers recorded between April and August, up 11.62% from 79.57 lakh during the same period last year. This increase led to an 11.64% rise in HMRTC's operational revenue for the same period, reaching Rs 18.6 crore.