The domestic metro rail projects will provide business opportunities worth Rs 80,000 crore for construction companies over the next five years, according to ICRA.

In India, 15 cities have operational metro networks of about 746 km (many of which are undertaking expansion), the agency said adding another seven cities have under-implementation metro projects of about 640 km.

This is apart from 1,400 km of metro rail projects worth Rs 2 trillion in the approval/proposal stages, of which a 352-km of new metro network has been approved, with the balance being in the proposal stage.

Metro rail projects offer Rs 80,000 crore business opportunities to construction firms over the next five years, it said.

“Given the government’s thrust for infrastructure development, the metro rail network is likely to witness 2.7 times expansion in the next five years.

“Typically, the metro rail development cost ranges between Rs 280-320 crore/km for elevated metro and the cost could be much higher in the case of an underground metro network,” Abhishek Gupta, Sector Head & Assistant Vice President, Corporate Ratings, ICRA, said.

He said civil construction forms 35-45 per cent of the overall cost. Given the large size of the metro projects, this is likely to offer sizeable opportunities for construction companies over the next five years.