The Visakhapatnam Metro Rail project, which was first proposed seven years ago in 2014, continues to be on the back-burner, with the Andhra Pradesh government yet to submit a new proposal as asked by the Union government in 2017. In a written reply to Rajya Sabha MP from BJP GVL Narasimha Rao, Minister of State in Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore said that the Union government had requested the government of Andhra Pradesh to resubmit the proposal of the Vizag Metro Rail project as per Metro Rail Policy, 2017 in September 2017. However, the state government has not submitted the revised proposal yet, the reply stated.
The Visakhapatnam Metro Rail project was first proposed in 2014 in accordance with the AP Reorganisation Act. It received in principle approval from the Union government in 2015. As per the original plan, it was meant to be completed by 2018. The project was delayed by the previous TDP government for more than two years, and by then, the Union government introduced the Metro Rail Policy, 2017. The state government was then asked to revise the proposal accordingly and submit it again.
The YSRCP government, which came to power in 2019, decided to start the project afresh, cancelling the previous bid and appointing a new consultant for preparing the revised detailed project report (DPR). Earlier, with the Jagan Mohan Reddy government planning to shift the executive capital to Vizag, the Metro Rail project was expected to be accelerated. However, the status of the state capital and its trifurcation now remains uncertain.
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As per the original proposal submitted in December 2015, the Visakhapatnam Metro Rail Project was intended to be a 50:50 joint venture equity partnership of the Union government and state government, with a network length of 42.55 km to be built at a cost of Rs 12,725 crore. This was revised by the state government in October 2016 and again in January 2017, to opt for a Public Private Partnership (PPP) at a cost of ₹12,345 crore.