Nagpur: The Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited (NMRCL) not only aims to provide the city a modern mass transport system but also construct the tallest building in the city. It aims to construct a 20-storeyed building atop the Sitabuldi metro station at Munje Square. The effective height of the tower will be around 25 storeys. At present, the tallest buildings in the city are the five residential towers in Anandam City, which are G+19 structures.

NMRCL managing director Brijesh Dixit told that the two corridors of metro rail will cross at Munje Square and hence, will have a huge passenger load and excellent connectivity to other parts of the city. “We want to take advantage of the location and construct the building on this spot. The building will have a viewers’ gallery on the terrace. The building itself will house shops, offices, hotels, restaurants, etc. It will become a good revenue source for us,” he elaborated.

“The two corridors will cross at about 5 metres above the Maharashtra Bank building. The metro trains coming out of the building will be wonderful sight. We will hold a global competition of architects to design the landmark building,” the MD said.

Munje Square station is not the only one that NMRCL plans to make a landmark one. “The Ambazari station will have a walkway at the height of 15 metres that will provide wonderful view of the lake and its surroundings. It will have a glass wall for visitors. Here, too, we will construct a commercial centre,” the MD told.

NMRCL is aware of the acute shortage of parking space in the city and its consequence on availability of the same for metro stations. It is thinking of innovative solutions to overcome this problem. “We are thinking of creating underground parking areas under some of the city gardens,” Dixit said.

Dixit further said that he had recently met with divisional commissioner Anup Kumar and district collector Sachin Kurve to discuss the issues related with transfer of revenue land to Nagpur Metro. Sanjay Darade, commandant of SRPF Nagpur, was also present in the meeting. “Very good progress was made in the meeting towards land requirement of NMRCL for car depot at Hingna,” he added.

“Another meeting was convened at Metro House with NMC Commissioner Shravan Hardikar and other officials from NMC. The issues related with transfer of land owned by NMC were discussed. Shifting of utilities like street lights, electric supply lines, water pipelines, sever, etc coming in the metro alignment was discussed in detail. The provision of parking near proposed station areas and feeder bus services were also deliberated in the meeting,” Dixit further said.

Nagpur: In order to increase the viability of the metro rail Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (NMRCL) has set a target of reducing the project cost by 20%. The cost of the project as per 2012 estimates of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was Rs.8,421 crore. The union cabinet sanctioned the project at this cost. However, the cost as per 2014 estimates had gone up to Rs 10,360 crore.

Aware of the fact that cost escalation can derail the project, NMRCL officials are trying to find out all ways and means to reduce the cost. These include rationalization of the construction and outsourcing.

Brijesh Dixit, Managing Director of NMRCL, told DMRC had planned the project for 100 years, which had been reduced to 50 years by the metro company. “One hundred years is too long a time. It unnecessarily increases the project cost and leads to dead investment. Infrastructure can be expanded when required. We will leave space for it,” he said.

Explaining rationalization, he said, “The length of the metro stations, size of the depots and the size of the viaduct (elevated track structure) is being reduced. The viaduct size is being reduced by 15% which alone will lead to cost saving of 10%.”

Outsourcing of fare collection will lead to saving of over Rs 200 crore. “We will have to install automatic fare collection (AFC) machines at all the metro stations. We will integrate a bank’s ATM card with the metro fare coupon. The bank will install the machines for us as it will get a large number of customers, who will open an account in order to get the ATM card,” Dixit said.

NMRCL is also planning to reduce operation cost by using solar energy. A private operator will install solar panels atop stations and depot and along the alignment of the metro corridor. It will sell power to NMRCL at a profit and recover its investment. The agency also plans to provide WiFi service at metro stations with the help of a private operator. “The operator will be given rights to advertise on digital display boards at stations and inside the trains. He will share revenue with us,” Dixit said.

In addition to Sitabuldi and Ambazari stations, NMRCL plans to commercially develop metro stations at Zero Mile, Railway Station and six locations on Central Avenue.

Nine bids for Sitabuldi station

Nine international consultants have bid for designing the Sitabuldi metro station atop which NMRCL plans to construct a 20 storey building. The last date for submitting bids is July 6. Some more bids are expected by then.

Ways to reduce capital cost of metro rail

• Cutting down length of metro stations
• Reducing width of the viaduct by 15%
• Reducing size of the two metro rail depots
• Outsourcing fare collection system

Ways to reduce operating cost of metro rail

• Using solar energy
• Commercial use of some stations
• WiFi at stations through private operator