MUMBAI: The newly expanded Eknath Shinde cabinet in Maharashtra approved an additional expenditure of Rs 10,269 crore for the mostly underground Mumbai Metro Line 3 project at its first meeting here on Wednesday, citing cost escalation.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made the announcement after the meeting.

Speaking to reporters, he said, "The cost (of Mumbai Metro Line 3) has increased on account of almost no construction undertaken in the last two years. Hardly any construction work was carried out (under the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government)."

This was the first cabinet meeting after its expansion on Tuesday when 18 new members - nine each of the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the BJP - were inducted.

He said, "The cabinet approved an additional expenditure of Rs 10,000 crore for Mumbai Metro Line 3. The original cost of the project was Rs 23,136 crore, which has now gone up to Rs 33,405 crore (total rise Rs 10,269 crore). The state is going to request the Union government to contribute from its corpus for the completion of the project."

Earlier, the state was supposed to spend Rs 2,402 crore which has now increased to Rs 3,699 crore.

The cabinet instructed the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) to transfer Rs 1,297 crore (the difference in cost) to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation as part of the Rs 10,269 crore funding, he said.

The Metro Line 3 is funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which would now increase its contribution from Rs 13,235 crore to Rs 19,924 crore, the deputy CM said.

The Cabinet cleared a proposal to make a fresh demand to JICA to increase its loan amount, Fadnavis said.

The 33.5-km-long corridor running along Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ (starting in south Mumbai and ending in suburban Andheri) will have 26 underground stations and one at-grade.

"By 2031, some 17 lakh passengers will travel by the Metro Line 3 every day. People can travel from Colaba (in south Mumbai) to the international airport in suburban Mumbai in 50 minutes," he said.

"The tunnel work has been completed 98.6 per cent, while 82.6 per cent work on stations, too, has been done. Acquisition of 73.14 hectares of government land and another 2.56 hectares of private land has also been completed," he said.

In another decision, the Cabinet cleared a proposal to be sent to the Union government seeking Rs 759 crore for including the Kanpa-Chimur-Warora broad gauge railway line in the ongoing Nagpur-Umred-Warora broad gauge project.

The total cost of the rail project is Rs 1,518 crore and the state is demanding nearly 50 per cent from the Union government, Fadnavis said.