India Overtakes Japan To Become Country With 4th Longest Metro Line, Reveals Union Minister

India has a new title to boast on an international level. With the newest addition of the Ahmedabad metro, the length of metro projects in India has reached 810 km, surpassing the lines in Japan. This information was announced by Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on September 30, during the inauguration of the metro line.

He claimed that it is a matter of pride that the country happens to be among the leading countries in terms of metro rail developments. India's metrorail projects that started off in the year 1984 now runs for about 810 kilometres compared to the 791 kilometres covered by Japan since 1927.

Making It To The Top Two In Two Years

Rejoicing over the country's newest achievement, the minister also made it a point to convey that the developmental projects will progress further until they make it to the top. Suggesting that a new project covering about 982 kilometres of Metro rail is under construction, Puri claims that India will overtake South Korea and the United States to be the second longest metro line in the world. This ambitious project is expected to be completed within the next one or two years.

Speaking at the inauguration of Phase-1 of Ahmedabad Metro, Puri traced back the historical line of urban development projects seen in India. The first modern network was flagged off in Delhi by the Vajpayee government in 2002 and was limited to 248 kilometres until the year 2014, said Puri. Praising the ruling government for the developmental projects they undertook, he added that the country invested ten times more and have established itself among the leading nations across the world.

For over a decade, the funds that were allocated for urban development projects did not exceed over ₹1.5 lakh crore. An article by the Indian Express quoted the minister saying that in the past eight years, a total of ₹16.5 lakh crore was invested and with these projects, the city of Ahmedabad will soon become India's seventh mega city by 2030.

Japan Joins Along With Praises

Hokugo Kyoko, Economic and Development Minister, Embassy of Japan, attended the inauguration ceremony along with officials of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The Embassy extended their congratulations on the completion of the project and said that they were glad that the feat was achieved on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between India and Japan.

They conveyed that the extension of the metro services would positively impact the economic activities, traffic congestion and pollution, which had become a growing concern for many metropolitan cities. The embassy further observed that the metro is well planned as a part of the integrated urban transportation of the city.

Saito Mitsunori, Chief Representative of JICA's Indian branch, said the association had been collaboratively helping India to achieve its socio-economic development goals, and the Metro Rail System Network will continue to be a proud example of one such international cooperation.

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