SC gives AAP Govt 2-month deadline to cough up Rs 415 crore for Delhi-Meerut rapid rail project

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government to provide Rs 415 crore within two months for the completion of the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project. New agency PTI reported.

A bench of Justices S K Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia noted that the AAP government has spent Rs 1,100 crore on advertisements in the last three years.

The Delhi government had stated that it did not have enough funds to provide its share of finance for the joint project after which the apex court had directed it to place on record funds spent on advertisements in the last three years.

The Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System is an 82.15 km long semi-high speed rail corridor currently under construction which will connect Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut. It is one of the three rapid rail corridors planned under Phase I of the RapidX project managed by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC).

With a maximum speed of 180 km per hour the distance between Delhi and Meerut will be covered in less than 60 minutes. The project will have 22 stations, and two depots at Duhai and Modipuram for maintenance of the trains.

The project is being funded jointly by the centre and the state government of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi and three external agencies — Asian Development Bank (ADB), New Development Bank (NDB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the RRTS in 8 March 2019 to provide a rapid mass transit rail corridor in the national capital region.