Mumbai Metro III snippets

In a bid to reduce the Rs 9,000 crore viability gap funding (VGF) for the Metro rail’s third line from Colaba to Bandra, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority(MMRDA) is planning to exploit the commercial value of the underground stations.The third line is expected to cost a whopping Rs 12,000 crore.The government gives VGF to encourage public-private partnership in infrastructure funding. VGF is the sum assured by the government to private party or parties to ensure the commerciall viability of a project. MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad confirmed this. He said the agency was indeed thinking about commercial exploitation of underground stations as well as land over ground near the stations. “We want to reduce this Rs 9,000 crore VGF substantially,’’ he said.MMRDA officials said the Centre will not be in a position to fund this as it funds only upto 40% of the total cost of the infrastructure project as VGF.The VGF for the second line of the Mumbai Metro from Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd was Rs 1,500 crore and was recently cleared by the Centre.