Gurgaon: Haryana govt has approved the proposal for civil works on the second phase of the upcoming metro corridor between Millennium City Centre and Cyber City. The project will now move to the bidding stage, with Gurgaon Metro Rail Limited (GMRL) planning to float the Rs 1,662-crore civil package in the first week of Oct.The approval ends a wait of nearly two months for the Phase 2 tender, which had raised concerns over the project’s 2029 completion target. World Bank completed its scrutiny of the tender documents towards the end of July, after which GMRL submitted the file to state govt for approval.The package covers the 14.5km Sector 9-Cyber City stretch, with 14 stations planned along the route. It also includes two flyover-cum-metro structures, about 1.2km on Old Delhi Road and 800 metres on Bajghera Road, together spanning around 2km. They will let the metro alignment pass through the busy road corridors while retaining road connectivity below, and will be built as the deposit work of GMDA.The approval is significant because the Phase 2 tender was the major missing link in the corridor. Phase 1, the 15.3km Millennium City Centre-Sector 9 stretch, is already under construction after its civil contract was awarded in Aug last year, and is scheduled for completion in 2028. GMRL has begun assembling the U-girders on which the track will be laid.Meeting the 2029 target for the full corridor will still be a challenge, with little cushion in the timeline. The project is expected to need roughly four years from tendering to commissioning, so every month lost before the contract is awarded eats into the time available for construction and testing.“The tender finalisation itself takes a minimum of four months if not more. After that, the construction period would be around two-and-a-half years. Testing and commissioning would take at least another year as the track, signalling and traction systems have to be installed and trains have to undergo trials at different speeds,” a person familiar with the project said earlier.Any further delay would make it increasingly difficult to complete the entire corridor before the 2029 Haryana assembly election. The project is now being monitored at PMO level. Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pulled up govt over the delay and asked chief secretary to take “ownership” of the project and ensure its speedy execution.The Phase 2 tender was held up partly by changes in the project’s financing. According to GMRL, the initial portion was funded through govt resources, while the subsequent phase required an international lender, which meant additional scrutiny of the project documents and procurement process. European Investment Bank withdrew from the process, after which KfW, a German state-owned development bank, was brought in. World Bank subsequently became part of the arrangement.The 28.5km Millennium City Centre-Cyber City corridor was sanctioned by Union govt in June 2023. It was originally estimated at Rs 5,452 crore and planned as a fully elevated line with 27 stations, along with a 1.8km spur towards Dwarka Expressway. In May this year, Haryana govt revised the estimated cost to Rs 8,500 crore and approved an additional 1.8km spur from Sector 5 to Gurgaon railway station.Phase 2 is expected to connect several densely populated residential areas of Old Gurgaon with the employment hubs of Udyog Vihar and Cyber City. The Sector 9-Cyber City section will serve sectors 7, 4, 5 and 3, Ashok Vihar, Bajghera Road, Palam Vihar Extension, Palam Vihar, Sector 23A and Sector 22. The city has not seen a metro expansion since 2017, and the corridor’s full benefit will depend on both phases being completed and commissioned.
