Metro route till Swargate likely to be inaugurated by PM next week

Pune Metro work gathers pace, PM likely to inaugurate

PM Modi likely to inaugurate the Vanaz-Garware College Metro route next week

The much-awaited Vanaz-Garware College Metro route is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, sources in the know-how said on Thursday.

The commissioner of the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), Suhas Diwase confirmed this.

The PMRDA has almost completed the work and is waiting for the green signal from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after which an official announcement will be made, sources added.

The expected date of inauguration is on October 5 or 6. Earlier, the Maha Metro, which is executing the project, was targeting September-end to make the route operational but due to unavoidable reasons, the inauguration got delayed.

The Maha Metro had handed over the Vanaz-Garware College Metro corridor to the PMRDA on September 10. The PMRDA has issued a safety certificate after conducting the audit of the route, signalling the completion of the project.

The total cost of the project is Rs 3,220 crore, of which 20 per cent of the funds are contributed by the state government and 80 per cent by the Centre.

Once operational, the Vanaz-Garware College Metro route will be a major relief for commuters travelling between the west and east of the city.

The metro will also provide connectivity to the Information Technology (IT) hub of Hinjewadi.