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The government of the state of Bihar, in India, on Tuesday approved a Rs.16,9600 million (US$2.5 billion) metro rail PPP project for its capital Patna.

Planned as a public-private partnership (PPP), the project will have three phases and 27 stations. In the first phase, it will complete North-South and East-West corridors.

The government will now send the feasibility report prepared by Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) to the urban development ministry for Union Cabinet’s approval.

The city of Patna is situated on the southern bank of the Ganges. It is the largest city of the state of Bihar in India. The city is home to more than two million people, and congestion is a serious problem.

Bihar joins a list of states looking to fix commuting woes with rapid mass transit solutions. Metro rail projects are being developed in several cities, including Hyderabad (Telangana), Kochi (Kerala), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar (Gujarat) and Nagpur (Maharashtra).

According to the Urban Development Minister, Patna Metro Rail Corporation, a publicly-owned firm similar to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation will be established in order to supervise the construction works. 

Sequence of events:

• On 14 September 2011 the Planning Commission of India gave approval for the Patna Metro project
• On 11 June 2013, Bihar cabinet approved the proposal to prepare a DPR for the projec
• On 18 June 2013 the Bihar government signed a MoU with the consultant, RITES, for feasibility study and DPR preparation for the railway project.
• On 9 February 2016, the state Government approved the project.