Upcoming metro projects in India: the pipeline, the lenders and how contracts are won

In October 2026 the urban affairs ministry put India’s metro network at more than 1,185 km across over 26 cities, up from 248 km in five cities before 2014, with about 1,000 km under construction and about 1.5 crore passengers a day.^[1] The central budget for metro and mass rapid transit in 2026-27 is ₹28,740 crore, with a further ₹2,200 crore for the regional rapid transit system (RRTS) run by NCRTC.^[2]

Central budget figures understate the market. Most of the money comes from state governments and from loans by multilateral and bilateral lenders such as JICA, ADB, AIIB, EIB, KfW and AFD, passed through to the state metro companies.

The Metro Rail Policy 2017 sets the rules for central support.^[3] A state applying for central help must:

• include private participation, either for the whole project or for parts such as operation and maintenance or fare collection;
• choose one of three funding routes: a PPP with viability gap funding, a central grant of 10% of project cost, or 50:50 equity sharing between centre and state;
• show that metro is the right mode compared with bus rapid transit or light rail, and achieve an economic return of at least 14%;
• adopt transit-oriented development and value capture financing, plan last-mile links within 5 km of stations, and set up a unified metropolitan transport authority.

The policy is being applied. In November 2025 the ministry returned the Coimbatore and Madurai project reports because neither city met the population threshold, suggesting bus rapid transit instead,^[4] and in April 2026 Odisha scrapped Bhubaneswar’s ₹6,225 crore first phase, citing low expected ridership and non-compliance with the policy.^[5]

Mumbai has more metro lines in construction than any other Indian city, built by MMRDA and, for the underground lines, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL).

The 82 km Delhi–Meerut RRTS, India’s first regional rapid transit line, was completed and inaugurated in February 2026, with Alstom trains and ETCS Level 2 signalling over LTE.^[30] The next two corridors, Delhi–Gurugram–Bawal (about 93 km) and Delhi–Panipat–Karnal (about 136 km), together worth about ₹65,000 crore, were cleared by the Public Investment Board and were awaiting Cabinet approval in October 2026.^[31] When approved, they will bring another round of civil, systems and rolling stock contracts.

Local content rules shape almost every metro equipment contract:

• Rolling stock. Since 2018, at least 75% of the cars in a tender must be made in India.^[32]
• Minimum local content. The ministry’s 2019 plan set minimums of 50% for rolling stock, 50% for signalling (from 2023), 50% for telecoms and electrical systems, and 80% for civil works.^[33]
• Land-border countries. Since July 2020, bidders from countries sharing a land border with India must register with DPIIT and obtain security clearance before bidding for public projects, including metros,^[34] which has effectively shut Chinese rolling stock makers out of recent tenders.

The result is that the foreign companies winning Indian metro work have Indian factories. Alstom’s Bhopal trains and signalling, for example, were built at its Savli plant in Gujarat;^[24] Herrenknecht supplies tunnel boring machines, some from its Tamil Nadu plant, to contractors such as L&T.^[35] The 2026-27 Budget also announced a scheme to boost domestic manufacturing of construction equipment, including tunnel boring machines.^[2]

Domestic capability is growing: DMRC and Bharat Electronics agreed in 2023 to develop indigenous train control, after DMRC deployed its own automatic train supervision system on the Red Line.^[37] For foreign suppliers the strongest positions are in specialist systems, components and subsystems that Indian integrators still import, and in partnerships with Indian manufacturers.

Knowing which lender finances which package tells you whether you can bid and who your competitors will be. A European firm, for example, may be best placed on EIB- or KfW-funded lines, while Japanese suppliers have an advantage on STEP-funded packages.

Indian metros often carry far fewer passengers than forecast. An IIT-Delhi study found metros typically reaching 25–35% of projected ridership, with Delhi at about 47%, though DMRC disputes the figure.^[42] A CAG audit of Bengaluru’s first phase found a 126% cost overrun, ridership of 5.89 lakh a day against 19.49 lakh projected, and fare revenue at 22.7% of projection.^[43]

Low ridership broke India’s largest metro PPP. Hyderabad Phase 1 lost money for years, and in 2026 Telangana took over L&T’s 90% stake for ₹1,461 crore and assumed about ₹13,538 crore of debt.^[44] For contractors and suppliers paid by public metro companies, ridership risk sits with the state. For anyone taking equity or demand risk in a metro PPP, it is the central question.

1. Follow the lender

   Track which lender finances each line and package, and whether its rules let you bid.

2. Localise early

   Local content minimums of 50% or more mean you need an Indian manufacturing, assembly or sourcing base before the tender, not after.^[33]

3. Team with an integrator

   Large packages go to consortia; a subsystem supplier usually wins by joining the bid of an Indian contractor or a global integrator.

4. Get approved

   Metro companies keep approved-vendor lists and require type approvals and references; start well before the tenders you want.

Our urban transport team tracks the pipeline, and our partner search service finds the Indian manufacturing or consortium partner that local content rules require.