Chandigarh Metro stuck in red tape: MP pushes Centre for Rs 25,000 crore boost

The Chandigarh Metro project remains off track even 13 years after it was first conceived, despite multiple feasibility studies, revised proposals, committees of three governments, and repeated official endorsements that the Tricity urgently needs a Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) to combat spiralling congestion. The project, scrapped once in 2017 and revived again in 2022, continues to inch through paperwork with no construction in sight.

Raising the matter in the Lok Sabha today, Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari demanded that the Centre should immediately declare Chandigarh Metro a strategic connectivity project and sanction a special grant of Rs 25,000 crore so that the long-delayed system can finally move to execution. He pointed out that the cost of the project has already escalated from Rs 16,000 crore during initial planning to around Rs 25,000 crore, and further delay, would push it even higher.

Tewari reminded the House that he had written to the Union Ministers of Road Transport and Highways and Housing and Urban Affairs in November 2019, pressing for MRTS connectivity between Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, and New Chandigarh to unlock the economic potential of the region and ease the fast-rising traffic burden. He said UMTA — Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority formed to oversee the project — had met only three times, even as RITES submitted two feasibility reports affirming that a Metro was essential and viable for all four cities. Despite this, he said, “nothing has moved on the ground”.

Tewari said that even after UMTA meetings and repeated RITES endorsements, the Centre had not acted decisively. “The Union Government must take up the Chandigarh Metro project as a strategic connectivity initiative to integrate the region so that it achieves its economic potential. The Centre must give Rs 25,000 crore for this project,” he said.

Meanwhile, the project’s internal assessment continues. Senior officials from Chandigarh, Punjab, and Haryana, who met RITES in June this year, have once again sought a revised Scenario Analysis Report (SAR) after discrepancies were found in methodology, ridership projections, economic assumptions, modelling reliability, and comparative data. This has further prolonged the decision-making cycle.

The latest RITES submission has estimated capital costs for the 85.65-km three-corridor network at February 2025 price levels (excluding land cost). An elevated system under Scenario G is projected to cost Rs 23,263 crore, while a fully underground version is estimated at Rs 27,680 crore. With taxes and escalation up to 2031, the total completion cost rises to Rs 25,631 crore (elevated) and Rs 30,498 crore (underground). The Financial Internal Rate of Return (FIRR) for a 30-year horizon stands at 5.26 per cent for the elevated option and 4 per cent for the underground system.

Proposed fares benchmarked to Delhi Metro fare slabs with a 5 per cent annual revision show that Metro ticket prices in 2031 would be 1.05 to 1.75 times higher than estimated CTU bus fares in 2030. Urban planners say that with Tricity’s population nearing 3 million and daily vehicular load at saturation point, the absence of high-capacity rapid transport is directly constraining growth, mobility, and quality of life.

Tewari’s intervention in Parliament aims to break the cyclical loop of planning, re-planning, and re-evaluation that has stalled the project for over a decade.

METRO PROJECT

An 85.65-km MRTS network across three corridors, connecting Chandigarh with Mohali, Panchkula and New Chandigarh, aimed at easing congestion and integrating regional mobility.

TIMELINE

• Aug 16, 2012: DMRC submits first DPR to the Punjab Governor-cum-Chandigarh Administrator
• July 9, 2015: Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana sign MoU; SPV created as Greater Chandigarh Transport Corporation (GCTC) with Rs 100-crore equity (25 per cent each by MoHUA, Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana)
• 2017: Project scrapped over low financial viability projections till 2051
• Nov 2022: Project revived; RITES asked to re-plan for a region with 3 million population and rising congestion
• March 2023: Centre gives in-principle approval to revised 85.65-km, three-corridor network.
• July 2023: All three governments and RITES clear proposal pending final detailed plan
• July 2024: DPR finalised
• Nov 2024: Joint committee of Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana formed to examine feasibility afresh
• 2025: RITES submits SAR; directed to revise again after stakeholders flag critical gaps.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Rising congestion and peak-hour gridlock across Tricity corridors
• Urgent need for low-pollution, high-capacity public transport
• Integration of Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula and New Chandigarh into a unified economic zone
• Catalyst for regional development, mobility and long-term sustainability