A Parliamentary Committee has attributed the delay in completion of metro projects to the absence of a dedicated managing director (MD) in Metro Corporations.
The Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs in its report on ‘Demands for Grants’ of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for the year 2023-24 has maintained that the metro rail projects running without any full time or dedicated managing director were very tardy.
According to the report, the Committee analysed the data provided by the Ministry and found the physical and financial progress of the metro projects in Patna, Surat, Agra, Bhopal and Indore very tardy.
“The Committee is surprised to note that some of the metro corporations/projects, namely Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) Limited, Mumbai Metro Line 3, Noida Metro Rail Corporation, Patna Metro Rail Project, Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited are operating without any full time/dedicated managing director,“ said the report.
The GMRC, Noida Metro Rail Corporation, and the Patna Metro Rail Project have been without a full-time director since 2019.
Similarly, the Mumbai metro line-3 and Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited have no full-time dedicated director from 2022.
The centre and the state government generally are equal equity shareholders in the Metro Corporations. Hence the appointment of directors is a joint responsibility of these two.
Recommendations
The report notes that the role of leadership in various metro projects is of utmost importance and crucial to understand, resolve, negotiate, facilitate and monitor the complex issues.
As such, the Committee has recommended that the Ministry should stress upon the need of appointing a full-time MD in all the Metro Corporations or Projects and take up the matter with various state governments at the earliest.
The Committee also recommended that frequent transfers of MDs of various metro corporations or projects may also be avoided to ensure constant and continued focus.