Delhi Govt’s Cabinet Approves Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 Project

On Friday evening, the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi announced via a tweet their cabinet’s long-pending approval for the Delhi Metro’s 103 km Phase 4 project which includes the construction of 6 lines with 72 stations. The decision to approve the project is brilliant news for the city and now only the Central Government’s approval & other pre-construction legwork stands between its implementation.

Many of you already know what’s in store for Delhi. If not, then see a list of Phase 4’s lines and stations along with a map here.

Quick List:

• New Lines:
Tughlakabad – Aerocity/IGI Terminal 1 (20.20/22.20 km) – shown in moss green below
Lajpat Nagar – Saket G-Block (7.96 km) – shown in moss green below
Inderlok – Indraprastha (12.58 km) – shown in aqua below

Note: Official line colors have not yet been assigned.

• Extensions of Existing Lines:
#1 – Red line – Rithala – Narela (21.73 km)
#7 – Pink line – Mukundpur – Maujpur (12.54 km)
#8 – Magenta line – Janakpuri West – R.K. Ashram (28.92 km)

Observations:

1. As of January 9, the Delhi Government’s Press Release page or Cabinet Decision page have no mention of the approval. Not one notice or blurb. Other state governments have done a stellar job in reporting such cabinet decision milestones.  Recent examples include this notice by the MP government for Bhopal & Indore’s metros and this notice by the Uttar Pradesh government for Kanpur’s metro. If you spot any official circular, press release or note, then do leave a comment below.

2. No information has been divulged on the project’s funding plan – is JICA on board again? What % of the cost will each entity (Delhi Government, Central Government and Lender) pitch in to fund it? It’s not as simple as 20%-20%-60% or 15%-15%-70% as some reports mention. For phases 1-3, see a proper breakdown here.

Update: The ET reports that DMRC is still in talks with JICA (since 2015), but has not yet been able to strike a deal. DMRC’s MD Mangu Singh says he “hopes” to have JICA’s support for this phase as well.

3. Reports mention the 2 km Aerocity – Airport section of the Tughlakabad line (included in July) has now been dropped. However, just last month the DMRC invited geotechnical investigative bids for it. A clarification on this from the DMRC would really help and I’ll then update the Phase 4 Information page, if required. If the reports are true, then that’s brilliant as this line should ideally continue westward towards Terminal 3, Dwarka, Najafgarh and then follow the path of the discarded Dwarka – Kanjhawala – Prem Piao line to form another circular line around Delhi.

4. Some reports mention construction will start in August 2017. That’s not possible without the appointment of a Detailed Design Consultant (DDC) for the new lines or without inviting bids for its construction. DMRC is usually good with tender/contract management, and as witnessed in Phase 3, they can be expected to invite DDC bids within the next 2-4 months followed by a few civil construction bids in the middle of the year even before the central government’s approval is received. That said, construction work will only begin in 2018.

5. Some reports mention Phase 4 will be ready in 2021 or 2022. Again, this is just not possible as we’re already in 2017 and who knows what challenges the construction phase will throw? Maybe we’ll see a proper new deadline (month, year) being announced when the central government approves the project.

6. The Delhi Metro currently has an operational network of 213 km with another 136 km under construction. With a minimum of 103 km of new routes in Phase 4, the Delhi Metro will easily breach the 450 km figure when Phase 4 goes live. But wait, there’s more. The state governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are expected to approve new lines in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and perhaps to Kundli. If and when those approvals come through, we’ll be staring at a 500+ km network 😀

Questions? Thoughts? Anything else you’d like me to talk about or clarify?

Maps for Reference:

By PhasePhase 1 | Phase 2 |  Phase 3 | Phase 4

For more updates, check out the Delhi section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG

written by

Global traveler who prefers mass rapid transit

32 Responses to "Delhi Govt’s Cabinet Approves Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 Project"

  1. Sid says:

    Can you provide info on Phase 3 approvals? When were the state and union government approvals received?

    Reply
  2. Shubham says:

    500 km? Bring it on. Which line do you think they will first start construction on?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Can’t guess what’s cooking in the DMRC, but it’ll definitely be one of the extensions of the existing lines – Red/Pink/Magenta. Among those, the Pink Line’s new bridge over the Yamuna at Wazirabad might be the first due to its construction scope & completion time requirement.

      Reply
  3. Parth says:

    Tmrg, do not worry about official press release. Twitter announcement is enough these days 😀

    Reply
  4. keshav says:

    nothing for east delhi…sad

    Reply
  5. Adi says:

    @keshav..considering the situation DMRC is facing in ph 3, i dont think they will offer anything for east delhi..its already too congested and land acquisition is a nightmare task there.

    Reply
  6. Ashok says:

    Since the funding outlay & JICA’s share have not been chalked out, did the Delhi Government basically write a blank check?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Yes, but with the knowledge that they’ll only be spending 10-15% of the overall cost which comes to roughly Rs. 5000-7500 crores. The rest of the funds will primarily come from the lender who’s debt guarantee will be taken by the central government.

      Reply
  7. Anil Gupta says:

    Thanks for your well balanced and insightful post. No one else has highlighted the issues mentioned here. I have 2 questions:
    1) Will Phase IV be the last ever phase of construction?
    2) Are there any plans to connect T1 and T3?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      1) Nope – We’ll continue to see new lines/extensions being built beyond Phase 4 as per the requirements of the city.
      2) Yes – DIAL/GMR have started planning for an internal train service. I believe a pre-feasibility report is currently being made for it.

      Reply
  8. USOZ says:

    Seriously Moss Green? Could they not come up with a better name. Why not Emerald line or something?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Official lines colors haven’t been assigned yet. Until then, I’ve given them colors for easy identification.

      Reply
  9. SG says:

    Any information on which sections of Janakpuri West – R.K. Ashram line will be underground and which will be elevated? With the newly completed single pier flyovers on the whole outer ring road stretch, it will be surprising if they plan to do elevated.

    Reply
  10. santosh says:

    pl also mention update about blue line from city centre to sector 63 noida

    Reply
  11. Aman Gupta says:

    Hi TMRG

    If the Tughlakabad Line isn’t connected to T1, then T3 and T1 would remain disconnected by metro. Inter terminal transfers would hence continue to remain a hassle then.

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Yea, that inter terminal transfer is going to remain painful for years. Hoping to see a day when T4 is constructed and T1 closes down, but that’ll require quite an investment – something which GMR/DIAL doesn’t want to get into right now.

      Reply
      • Aman Gupta says:

        DIAL assured DMRC in the first place that T1 won’t be closed down. Only then did DMRC go ahead with the T1 station of the upcoming Magenta Line. It hence makes sense to make the line go upto T1. For the purpose of the ring line which you envision, it can be then turned westwards underneath the airside of IGI. This would require that the tunnels are made at great depths so as to not compromise with the integrity of the structures and paved areas of the airport above. This would be kind of a detour but is desirable. Though, the better thing would be to connect both terminals by a light rail/peopl mover, as it is there in Dubai.

        Reply
  12. ABHEEK SAHA says:

    Given that Phase III is running late, I guess the timing is ok and maybe the big contractors won’t have to move their workmen/equipment out of the city before Phase iV work starts off. Any idea whether any of the DPRs are in public domain?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi, the DPR is not yet available. With Phase 3 winding down, a big migration of skilled engineers and equipment has already taken place (see this) and familiar faces in my LinkedIn circle are now working on Mumbai’s line-3.

      Reply
  13. Siddhant Kumar says:

    Yes I agree east delhi is congested but only some areas. Karkarduma,ip extension patparganj,preet vihar,nirman vihar,dilshad garden and vivek vihar are not congested. Only areas like trilokpuri, mandawali,vinod are congested.

    Reply
  14. Siddhant Kumar says:

    Yes I agree east delhi is congested but only some areas are congested i.p extension preet vihar nirman are not congested

    Reply
  15. Ishwar Aggarwal says:

    Please TMRG,
    Show any update of GURGAON..
    As there are so many planning being made like dwarka iffco chowk line, huda city centre to railway station line and now huda city centre to bawal via panchgaon chowk…
    And nothing can be seen on the ground state.
    It look like that haryana government is not able to decide or they are just fooling us, and that’s shame..

    According to you or your sources which line will see the light of the day in gurgaon???
    And we will see the construction in the coming days????

    Please update…

    Reply
    • Ravinder Maggo says:

      I also have concern of daily commuting to west Delhi from Gurugram..Not seen any update for Dwarka IFFCO Chowk connect for last few days.Once it was in news that both will be connected via Palam Vihar side..

      Reply
      • TMRG says:

        The Palam – Gurgaon line is currently waiting for the Haryana Govt’s approval. Work can’t start without it.

        Reply
  16. Vikas gupta says:

    Do you have any info why centre has not yet approved phase IV??? There has been news that delhi CM has refused to give it’s share of 50% in central taxes and thus centre is waiting for the funding pattern to become clear.

    Also, how likely is the possibility of yellow line reaching narela along the indian railway line as proposed by modi govt since narela will already covered through red line in phase IV??

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      1) DMRC has not been able to sort out the source and amount of external funds. Once that gets finalized, then the Centre will take a call.
      2) No chance of being extended in Phase 4. Perhaps in Phase 5? We’ll have to wait and see.

      Reply

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