After having immediately started civil works for ?the ?DN Nagar-Dahisar and Andheri East-Dahisar East metro lines, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (??MMRDA) is now approaching the Union Government for help to get funds for the rolling stocks or else the metro project would be far from over. With plans to get funding from international financing agencies for the rolling stock, the MMRDA has got a jolt from the state government for not agreeing to become guarantor for the loans. Banks are ready to provide loans directly to the MMRDA, but the Union government’s regulations do not allow a direct borrowing. The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) has been approached to make amendments in the regulations so that funds can be borrowed directly, without any supporting document from the Maharashtra government. The borrowing is likely to come from the Asian Development Bank. “The D.N. Nagar-Dahisar Metro 2A and Andheri East-Dahisar East Metro 7 corridors, combined, will need approximately Rs 5,000 crore to procure rolling stock, which includes not only trains, but also tracks, signalling systems, among others,” said Praveen Darade, Additional Metropolitan Commissioner of MMRDA. As per the schedule, bids for buying rolling stocks should have been floated by now, but it hasn’t been done due to want of funds as the debt-ridden state government doesn’t want an additional liability. The civil works for Metro 2A and Metro 7 routes are expected to be through by early 2018, by then rolling stock should be in for installation and testing. The deadline set for both the corridors is March 2019, which is just before General and Maharashtra Assembly elections. The Dahisar-DN Nagar 2A metro is planned to be 18.5-kms with 17 stations at an estimated cost of Rs 6,410 crore. Whereas, Dahisar East-Andheri East 7 metro will be 16.5-kms long with 16 stations and the estimated price has been pegged at Rs 6,208 crore.

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