Mumbai: The State Cabinet on Tuesday sanctioned the construction of a Metro line between Dahisar and Mira Road (Metro 9) and between Andheri and Chhatrapati Shivaji Majaraj International Airport (Metro 7A). Both routes are extension to the already under-construction Dahisar-Andheri (Metro 7) route.

The total length of the newly-sanctioned routes is 13.58 kilometres and the expected cost of the projects is around Rs 6,607 crore. Metro 9 will be a 10.41-km-long elevated route, while Metro 7A will be 3.17-km long, of which 0.98 km will be elevated and 2.19 km underground. The two projects will have 11 stations, of which 10 will be elevated and 1 underground.

The government will be extending a loan of Rs 1,631.24 crore without interest to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which will be executing the projects. The loan is meant for paying Central and State taxes, and towards expenses on land.

The MMRDA will be taking loans from national, international financial institutions, LIC, and in the form of bonds. The rehabilitation of the project affected people will be done as per the existing relief and rehabilitation policy under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project.

As sanctioned in the meeting, the initial ticket rates will be Rs 10 (0-3 km), Rs 20 (3-12 km), Rs 30 (12-18 km), Rs 40 (18-24 km), Rs.50 (24-30), Rs .60 (30-36 km), Rs 70 (36-42 km), and Rs 80 (42-above).

The government aims to complete the project by March 2022. As per the initial estimate, around 8.47 lakh commuters will be travelling every day on these routes and the number will increase to 11.12 lakh by 2031. The routes connecting Mira-Bhayander to Mumbai suburbs will save the travel time by 30 to 40 minutes.