The start of Navi Mumbai Metro: The significant contribution of ‘Infra Man’ Devendra Fadnavis to its revival and expansion of this project

In modern times, urban development is epitomized by the metro network. But despite being developed as an industrial and residential hub over the last 2-3 decades, Navi Mumbai lacked a metro network of its own until November 2023. And the driving force behind this achievement was, as usual, the ‘Infra man’ of Maharashtra, CM Devendra Fadnavis. Although officially launched in 2010, the Navi Mumbai Metro project remained largely stalled in its initial stages due to issues such as land acquisition, technical clearances, and internal disputes among contractors. However, following the change of government in 2014, with Devendra Fadnavis as the new CM, the project gained significant momentum. Fadnavis took bold decisions to fast-track pending infrastructure projects across the state including the Navi Mumbai Metro project. The tenure of his first government saw his all out efforts in solving administrative, environmental, land acquisition and funding issues that held many vital projects under deadlock. During this period several pending infrastructure projects were revived across the state. The Navi Mumbai Metro network project with its huge potential became integral to his vision of transforming the satellite city into a smart city and a hub for new-age ventures. The project, a massive infrastructure undertaking, was bogged down due to multiple impediments during the previous Congress-NCP government. This caused a substantial escalation in project cost from ₹1,984 crore to over ₹3,063 crore. Devendra Fadnavis’s foundational role in fast-tracking the stalled project through several strategic policies and aggressive initiatives to address the problems ultimately drove it out of shallow water. The 11.1 km elevated Navi Mumbai Metro route 1 between CBD Belapur and Pendhar with 11 stations, has now been completed. In the subsequent phase, the network will be expanded to connect directly to the Navi Mumbai International Airport via Taloja and Kalamboli.