Pune, March 15 Pune will get additional metro rail routes in May and July, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Sunday.
He was speaking after inaugurating Metro Bhavan, the headquarters of the MahaMetro Pune Project.
"Maharashtra is the first state to formulate a GCC (Global Capability Centres) policy, and in such a situation, mobility is very important. We are committed to making Pune congestion-free by building metro rail lines. We are also planning underground tunnelling to ensure uninterrupted mobility," he said.
Fadnavis admitted that metro rail work in the state's second largest city, also a major industrial and services hub, had started late, but construction was now progressing rapidly.
"In May and July, we will inaugurate more phases of the Pune metro rail. We have planned a network of 80 kilometers, and work on 55 kilometers is nearing completion. The Hinjewadi metro line will start in May. Another 11 km of metro in Pune will be ready by May. There is also a plan to extend the metro line to the upcoming Purandar airport," he said.
A total of 200 kilometers of metro rail lines are planned for Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad together, he said, adding that the aim is to improve mobility in Pune's transportation system and make the city congestion-free.
Punekars like the metro rail, as around 25,000 passengers use the system daily, the CM added.