Union Cabinet Approved Three New Extension Lines in Delhi Metro

The union cabinet sub-committee approved three new extension lines in the Delhi Metro on 7 August 2012. With this recent addition in the Delhi Metro, the lines are all set to cover the rural parts of Delhi and Haryana.

Despite a financial stress situation, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) approved proposals by the urban development ministry to extend the Dwarka line to Najafgarh in west Delhi, Mundka line to Bahadurgarh in Haryana and increase the length of the under-construction Mukundpur-Yamuna Vihar line to Shiv Vihar.

The extensions are all set to stretch over twenty kilometers and will cost around 3,500 crores to the government. Following this, there will be no more extensions in Phase-III of Delhi Metro, which was approved in August 2011 and will be completed by 2015.

The government had opposed the fully government-funded metros in the 12th plan (2012-17) due to the increasing debt scenario, but the ministry felt that these extensions would act as a breather to all locations. The Delhi Metro, has a network spanning 189 km, and is used by 15 lakh people on a day to day basis.