Work on the much-awaited Ahmedabad metro began on Saturday with Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel laying the foundation stone for the first phase of the Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) project at Vastral here.

Work on the initial 6 km of the Vastral-Thaltej route, costing Rs 611 crore will be completed by September 2016.

The first phase, which will have some elevated and some underground portions, will have two routes, with the first route covering the East-West corridor of 37.76 km, and the second one covering the North-South corridor of the city. 

The Chief Minister thanked the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allocating Rs 10,773 crore for the the first phase of the MEGA project. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised the citizens of Ahmedabad a suitable public transport service under MEGA. He has kept his promise and we thank him for allocating the funds," said Patel at the ground breaking ceremony on Saturday night.

For the project, the state government will bear Rs 2,000 crore as part of equity out of a total expenditure of Rs 10,773 crore, while the Centre will also bear Rs 2,000 crore on a 50-50 basis. The state government will provide land worth Rs 770 crore for the project. The land will be given to the Ahmedabad Metro Project as subordinate debt.

The project will be implemented by the special purpose vehicle (SPV) Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) Company Ltd. The Metro Rail will be linked with BRTS, Railways, and other public transport services so as to develop a multi-model transport service by covering industrial, commercial, and residential areas. Advanced technologies such as a driverless system, a communication-based train control system, and smart card ticketing will be introduced in the project, a government statement said.

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