Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) will prepare the detailed project report for the new metro in Telangana.

MMRCL, which was formerly Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited (NMRCL), a joint Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Government of India and Government of Maharashtra (GoM), has been reconstituted into Maha Metro for implementation of all metro projects in the State of Maharashtra outside Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

In a meeting held at Hyderabad, the state government awarded consultancy for 'Metro Neo' project in Warangal, in Telangana, an official from Maha Metro said. This 'neo Metro' project is the second such project that Maharashtra Metro has bagged after the Nashik metro.

This was announced after a high-power meeting met recently.

A presentation was made by Maharashtra Metro team, which included MD Brijesh Dixit and Director (Project) Mahesh Kumar, before the Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, K T Rama Rao, elected representatives, Principal Secretary, Arvind Kumar and other senior IAS officers of Telangana, according to officials.

Rao has asked Maharashtra Metro to take up the assignment of preparation of Detail Project Report (DPR) for rubber tyre metro for Warangal district for a length of 10-15 kilometres. One of the reasons for Maha Metro getting the nod had to do with the cost, which is one third when compared to conventional system is being planned in Warangal district. “The cost of conventional Metro project being executed by other states is Rs 250 crore per kilometre, while Maha Metro is executing the same project at Rs 180 crore per kilometre. Metro Neo will cost just Rs 72 crore per kilometre, stated officials.

Officials from Telangana had visited Nagpur Metro project in November to study a double decker system and overall metro project work. The team held extensive discussions with Maha Metro officials, where presentation was given followed by site visit, said an official. “The team was quite impressed with project and had sought Maha Metro help in building similar infrastructure work in Telangana state,” said an official.

In a recent meeting held at Delhi by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), this solution named as `Metro Neo’ was accepted for Tier-II and Tier-III cities of India. Even for Tier-I cities, it can be adopted as a feeder service. The model developed for Nasik was discussed on various forums. The Government of India on 21st August 2019, constituted a committee under chairmanship of Brijesh Dixit for standardization of detail specifications for Rubber-Tyre Mass Rapid Transportation System (MRTS) with a view to implement this across India. The buses run on rubber-tyre and draw power from overhead electric wire having 600-750 V DC supply. The buses take power form overhead electric wire similar to railway system. As part of Metro Neo project, length of Bus Coaches will be 25/18 meter with carrying capacity of 200-300 passengers, said an official.

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