Pune (Maharashtra): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the Pune metro rail project and travelled in the train after himself buying a ticket from a kiosk. The inauguration of the 12-km stretch of the total 32.2-km long project took place at the Garware metro station, from where Modi flagged off the project and proceeded to take the metro ride to the Anandnagar station, located nearly five km away.
"It is part of a total 32.2 km Pune Metro rail project. The entire project is being built at a total cost of more than Rs 11,400 crore," stated the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in an official statement.
During the 10-minute ride, the PM interacted with differently-abled students, some of them visually impaired, present inside the metro coach. Before taking the metro ride from the Garware station, Modi also inspected an exhibition of the project put up there. The 12-km-long route inaugurated on Sunday includes two priority stretches-- Garware College to Vanaz (5 km) and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to Phugewadi (7 km) -- on two metro lines.
The total cost of the Pune metro project is over Rs 11,400 crore. The PM had laid the foundation stone for the project on December 24, 2016.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra Assembly Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol were also present at the inauguration of the Metro line.
Earlier, PM Modi unveiled the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj situated on the premises of Pune Municipal Corporation.
