PMO STEPS IN TO FAST-TRACK LKO METRO CLEARANCE
NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has stepped in to fast-track approval for the 6,800-crore Lucknow metro rail proposal, almost two years after the Centre gave its in-principle nod to the project. Sources said following the PMO’s intervention, Phase-I of the project covering 22 kilometres is likely to be cleared by the finance ministry’s Public Investment Board (PIB) on August 6. It is only after the PIB appraises and gives its green signal that a project is placed before the cabinet for final approval.
NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has stepped in to fast-track approval for the ` 6,800crore Lucknow metro rail proposal, almost two years after the Centre gave its in-principle nod to the project.
Sources said following the PMO’s intervention, Phase-I of the project covering 22 kilometres is likely to be cleared by the finance ministry’s Public Investment Board (PIB) on August 6. It is only after the PIB appraises and gives its green signal that a project is placed before the cabinet for final approval.
The delay in getting the clearance has not only hindered the process of procuring loan from domestic and multilateral agencies for the project but also prevented the state government from availing central funds earmarked for the project.
Metro projects are jointly funded by the Centre and the state. While the Centre provides 20% of the capital cost, states contribute about 30%. The remaining is borrowed from the market. Though the Centre had allocated ` 100 crore for the Lucknow metro in the 2014-15 budget, in the absence of a formal approval, the money could not be released.
Fed up with the delay, the UP government, meanwhile, has already started the ground work and sanctioned ` 100 crore from its share of ` 2,000 crore.
Sources said the PMO was forced to step in after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav wrote to PM Narendra Modi on July 5 complaining about the undue delay. The PMO recently wrote to the Union urban development ministry directing it to put up the proposal for cabinet clearance at the earliest.
It will be the second time that the proposal will be put up for the PIB’s approval.
Last August, the PIB had turned down the proposal on the grounds that the Centre had failed to frame a specific metro policy in view of the huge financial implications involved in implementing metro projects in all million plus cities. The PIB had also pointed out how the government was yet to tie up the loan amount to the tune of ` 3,502 crore.
THE PMO WAS FORCED TO STEP IN AFTER UP CM AKHILESH YADAV WROTE TO PM MODI ON JULY 5 COMPLAINING ABOUT THE UNDUE DELAY