The Gujarat government on Friday made public the details of the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro Rail project, in which the internal auditor discovered that land for the project measuring around 20 hectares was “questionable” in nature.
The Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) Limited’s annual report for the fiscal year 2020-21 was tabled by the Urban Development Department during the ongoing Budget session of the Gujarat Assembly.
According to the independent auditor’s report, “It was observed that the GMRC did not have valid documents of the title deeds of a freehold land situated at Survey No. 525 at Kathwada, Vastral in Ahmedabad, admeasuring 18,000 sq mt that is around two hectares, whose market value as on March 2021 was over Rs 16.82 crore.”
Other than that, the auditor also noted that land situated at final plot No. 56 and 285 at Ahmedabad Apperal Park (SEZ), admeasuring 17.62 hectares, was allotted by the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) to the Metro company for the construction of a depot, “however the mode of transfer of this land from GIDC to the company has not been decided by the Gujarat government and according to the auditor, the land transfer is questionable”.
The Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream project as Gujarat Chief Minister at the time. The project was first conceived in 2003, and it was finally put on paper in 2005. The Corporation has only been able to run it on a 6-kilometer stretch after 16 years and numerous route changes.
The Ahmedabad Metro Phase 1 project consists of two lines and 32 stations and spans 39.26 kilometres. The cost of construction is estimated to be Rs 10,773 crore.
GMRC is reportedly planning to start trial lines in all sections of Line-2 by August, to coincide with India’s 75th anniversary of independence and just before the state elections in December.