New Delhi (SunstarTV Bureau): The Urban and Housing Development Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri has informed about Centre has yet to receive metro railway network, in Rajya Sabha by responding over the question by Odisha BJP MP, Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday.
According to Puri the State Governments are responsible for initiating, developing and funding urban transport infrastructure including metro rail projects as urban transport is a State subject.
“The Centre extends financial supports for metro rail proposals in cities or urban agglomerates, on the basis of extant policy, feasibility of the proposal and availability of resources, as and when posed by concerned State Governments,” the minister further added.
Meanwhile, the BJP Minister said, in 2014, the Odisha government had signed agreement with Secundarabad-based Balaji Railroad System Limited (BRS) to draw up a detailed project report (DPR) for a metro rail service between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
The company was to prepare the DPR of the mass rapid transit system (MRTS) covering the 30-km distance between the two cities. The State government had mooted the introduction of the metro rail in the twin city-Bhubaneswar-Cuttack in 2013.
While in 2019, Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, in the time of addressing the inaugural session of the 16th Odisha Legislative Assembly had said that the State government will attempt to connect Cuttack with smart city Bhubaneswar by Metro train.
