Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority has tweaked the proposed route for Gurgaon Metro and sent the detailed project report to the state finance department for approval. A station is now expected to come near the upcoming Ikea store in Sector 47, the change in route has been apparently made to attract more ridership when the city metro starts operating in 2025.
Talking about the status of the metro project, GMDA chief VS Kundu said, “We have made changes in the location of the metro station proposed in Sector 47. It was earlier coming in a residential area and it has been changed to be near the proposed Ikea store. The final DPR has been sent to the state finance department for approval.”
He added that the Swedish retailer ‘Ikea’ has taken up a major land parcel and once functional, it will see a large number of people visiting the area and hence it made sense to have a metro station nearby.
In 2017, Ikea had brought 10 acres in Sector 47 at Rs 842 crore. Once the DPR has been approved by the finance department, it will be sent to the cabinet and then will be sent for Centre’s approval. The project is being executed by Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation (HMRTC) and GMDA is one of the major stakeholders in the project. This change in route is one of many other changes that have been incorporated in the DPR over the past 18 months.
HMRTC first extended the metro route by taking a spur from Sector 9A towards Dwarka Expressway. Then, they decided to extend the metro line from Sector 23 to Cyber city via Udyog Vihar. Eventually a spur was approved from Sector 23 till the Blue Line metro station in Dwarka.
In May last year, Khattar had given an in-principle approval to the DPR. Changes including the metro station in Sector 47 were taken at a meeting held in January this year. Kundu, however, said that the project will most likely begin early next year.