Wait for MCG nod likely to delay pod taxis

Gurgaon: The Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) - the proposed pod taxi service between Sirhaul and Rajiv Chowk in Gurgaon - is likely to get delayed as the Ministry of Railways has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to seek the municipal corporation's clearance before starting the work.
Following the railway ministry's directive, NHAI general manager (technical) Dinesh Yadav has written to MCG, seeking its nod for the project."We are waiting for the corporation's reply, after which the future course of action will be decided," a senior NHAI official said, adding that if all went as per the plans, Delhi will have PRT in two years, and this will decongest the national capital region's (NCR) highways. The pilot project is planned between the 70-km stretch from Dhaula Kuan to Manesar along NH-8.
In its letter to NHAI, the railway ministry said since projects like PRT comes under the tramway (light rail) category, permission of the local authority is mandatory. The NHAI official said the authority will have to seek the MCG's permission under the Indian Tramway Act 1986 before commencing work on the PRT project.
NHAI had presented a feasibility report in April, and invited expressions of interest (EOI) from international agencies, including Metrino of Poland, to start work on it.
According to the official, the first phase of the 25-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) project will be 24-km long and will cost Rs 882 crore. The project envisages small, fully automatic, driverless pods moving on a suspended network 5-10m above ground. The report proposed three routes - Dhaula Kuan-Manesar route,, Udyog Vihar-Sheetla Mata Road route and Udyog Vihar-Rajesh Pilot Chowk route.