Manish Tewari Urges Centre to Sanction ₹25,000 Crore Grant for Chandigarh Metro Rail Project

Member of Parliament Manish Tewari has warned that the long-delayed Chandigarh Metro project is “heading nowhere", cautioning that the city could turn into a “hell for traffic” by 2036 if urgent steps are not taken. Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Tewari urged the Union government to declare the Metro a strategic connectivity project and approve a special grant of ₹25,000 crore to break the prolonged deadlock.

Tewari highlighted the growing pressure on the tricity region—Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali, and New Chandigarh—citing rapid urban expansion and worsening congestion. He stressed that a modern Metro Rail system was essential to manage future mobility needs and maintain the region’s planned urban character. According to him, continued delays risk pushing the city’s transport infrastructure to a breaking point within the next decade.

Responding to the concerns, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu said the Centre has not received any formal proposal for a Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) from the Chandigarh administration or the governments of Punjab and Haryana. He noted that although the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) was constituted on April 28, 2023, urban transport remains a state subject, placing primary planning responsibility on the Union Territory and the respective state governments.

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Tewari reacted sharply to the minister’s statement, expressing surprise over the reported absence of a proposal. He pointed out that consultancy firm RITES had already submitted two reports indicating the financial viability of the Metro project. Calling the situation a “serious lapse", he questioned what the UMTA had been doing for nearly three years despite mounting traffic concerns.

The MP further accused the ministry of engaging in “bureaucratic buck-passing” and attempting to evade responsibility. He argued that citing the lack of a formal proposal allowed the Centre to sidestep the urgency of Chandigarh’s traffic challenges, which he said are becoming more visible with each passing year.

The Chandigarh Metro proposal has remained under discussion for over a decade, with multiple feasibility studies conducted but no final execution plan approved. With vehicle numbers rising and urbanisation accelerating across the tricity, Tewari’s intervention has renewed focus on the need for coordinated action between the Centre, the Union Territory administration, and the neighbouring states to prevent a future urban mobility crisis.

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