Mumbai: Recession teaches even the richest some valuable lessons. The cash-rich Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), which even lends to the state government for loan waivers to farmers, has been forced to rethink its original plan to construct a totally underground Metro line (Metro-III) between Colaba and Bandra.

Mumbai: Bidders again ask for extension of submission dates

The nodal agency for the Metro Rail Project which is awaiting financial bids for the second line may not receive any bids on March 16 either. Earlier in February, none of the seven bidders for the 32-km line came forward, all of them instead seeking an extension of the submission dates by a month.

The chief minister on Tuesday asked transport department officials to start preliminary work for the proposed East-West Metro. Transport secretary Sumantra Chowdhury later announced that Gammon India Ltd was awarded the contract for constructing the elevated 6km tracks between Sector V (near Wipro) and Phoolbagan.

India's recent phenomenal prosperity has taken everybody by surprise. The rolling out of ambitious programmes and its right implementation has leapfrogged India into the category of fast developing countries.

The chief minister on Sunday kickstarted the East-West Metro and even announced a deadline for completion.

The State Governments proposed spending on the Metro Rail for 2009-10 and the rest of the budget for the Citys roads and transport is a mixed bag, according to experts. While experts believe that Metro has become an embarrassing obligation to the Government, the decision to spend Rs 2,000 crore on improvement of roads drew contrasting responses.

Mumbai: With an aim to generate funds through development of Metro rail stations on the second Metro corridor, the Mumbai Transformation Support Unit (MTSU) and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) are undertaking a pilot study on the impact of commercial utilisation in and around one station along the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd corridor.

If the words of state urban development minister Babulal Gaur are to be believed, Metro trains are not a distant dreams, at least for the cities of Indore and Bhopal, two largest cities of Madhya Pradesh.

The East-West Metro will be extended 900 metres to the Howrah Maidan, a senior official at Writers