WHILE December 2027 till now has been frequently cited as the completion milestone for Nagpur Metro Phase-II, statements by metro officials now indicate that full commissioning of the network is expected only in 2028-2029, after statutory testing, inspection and safety certification.
In 2018, the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation placed the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Nagpur Metro Phase-II before the State Government with a clear line on its website: 'The elevated network would be executed in four years after DPR gets Government sanction.' The DPR, prepared by RITES Ltd, mapped four corridors totalling 43.8 km and 32 stations linking Kanhan, Butibori MIDC, Hingna and Transport Nagar, Bhandara Road. The Maharashtra Cabinet approved the DPR in January 2019.
However, the key Union Government approval came only in 2023. That year went into tendering, wrapping up Phase 1 activities and mobilisation. Physical work began in the first quarter of 2024. A senior metro official draws a firm line here. “A project’s clock starts from the day it is sanctioned by the Ministry. Before that there are deliberations and scrutiny by multiple departments. That period is part of the process,” the official stated. Counting five years from early 2024, the official places full completion in the 2028-29 financial year.
December 2027 vs April 2029: December 2027 is often cited as the completion date. However, metro now states that Phase-II commissioning, means actual start of commercial operations would be possible only in 2028-29. After civil works, there is testing, and inspection by the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) and later followed by actual start of operations for citizens. That takes a period of six to nine months, as it is a rigorous process, involving various parameters. So, structures may be ready soon, commissioning is an altogether different aspect and same is going to extend into 2028-2029,” the official said. Financing documentation from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reflects this longer arc, placing the project's closing schedule at April 30, 2029.
What the ground shows in February 2026: Of the 1,466 spans required across all four corridors, only 206 have been completed as of February 2026 - an overall progress rate of 14 percent. With 21 months remaining until the November 2027 deadline, it was projected by metro officials themselves, but 86 percent of the span work still pending, the project would need to erect spans at eight times its current average pace to meet the announced target. The disparity across corridors compounds the impossibility: while the Automotive Square-Kanhan corridor has achieved 31.5 percent span completion, the Khapri-Butibori corridor languishes at 3.9 percent -- an eight-fold gap that make simultaneous completion across all routes a mathematical fiction.
Under a single project timeline, one corridor is moving seven times faster than another. With most of the work still ahead, the practical outcome now points to stage-wise openings as sections become ready.
Phase 1 deja vu: Phase 1 offers context. DPR in 2013. Sanction in 2014. Construction in 2015. First operations in 2019. Full network in December 2022. Indora Square station only in December 2024 after land and safety clearances. The pattern is familiar: approval, build, inspect, certify, then open.
The official line: Between the four-year line written in 2018 and the commissioning window now stretching to 2029 lies a long chain of approvals, tendering, construction, inspection and certification. For commuters in Nagpur’s industrial and residential belts, the metro is visibly rising across corridors. How quickly each of those corridors reaches the point of safety clearance will decide when trains finally begin to run.
