In a boost to public transport in the Bihar's capital city, the Centre Wednesday approved the Patna Metro Rail project comprising two corridors -- Danapur to Mithapur and Patna Railway Station to New ISBT. According to the government, the project will be executed in five years with an estimated cost of Rs 13,365.77 crore. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a statement, the government said that the Danapur Cantt-Mithapur corridor will pass through the heart of city and connect densely populated areas such as the Raza Bazar, the Secretariat, the High Court and the Law University Railway Station.

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The Patna Railway Station-ISBT corridor will connect the Gandhi Maidan, PMCH, Patna University, Rajendra Nagar, Mahatma Gandhi Setu, Transport Nagar and ISBT. "The length of Danapur to Mithapur corridor is 16.94 km, which is mostly underground (11.20 km) and partly elevated (5.48 km) and comprises 11 stations (3 elevated and 8-Underground)," it stated.

It also stated the length of Patna Station to New ISBT corridor is 14.45 km, which is mostly elevated (9.9 km) and partly underground (4.55 km) and comprising of 12 stations (9-Elevated and 3-Underground). The existing population of 26.23 lakh of Patna agglomeration area is expected to be benefitted by the Patna Metro Rail Project directly and indirectly.
The approved corridors will have multi-modal integration with railway stations and ISBT station and will have feeder network of bus, Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) and Non Motorised Transport (NMT)

"The Project will have non-fare box revenue from rental and advertisement as well as Value Capture Financing (VCF) through mechanism of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and Transfer of Development Rights (TDK)," it also stated.

The residential areas along the Metro Rail corridors will be immensely benefitted by this project, as the people of these areas will be able to travel on trains from their own neighborhoods to reach different areas of the city conveniently, it added. 

Apart from this, the Union Cabinet also approved the proposal of extension of the tenure of National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) beyond March 31 for three years. The major beneficiaries of the proposal would be safai karamcharis and persons engaged in manual scavenging in the country since the NCSK will work for their welfare and uplift, the statement added.