The Hinjawadi-Shivajinagar Metro's first phase looks set to miss its July 15 launch target, with the corridor still awaiting the final safety certificate needed before passenger services can begin. It marks the sixth time the project has slipped past a stated deadline.
The Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) has completed the mandatory inspection of the 12-station stretch between Maan and Balewadi, but commercial operations cannot start until CMRS submits its final report and issues the safety certificate. PMRDA Commissioner Abhijit Chaudhari has said the line will need at least 15 days to become operational after that report comes through, and that he intends to personally inspect all 12 stations before services begin to confirm pending work is finished.
The 23-km corridor, developed under a public-private partnership between the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Pune IT City Metro Rail Limited, was originally slated to open in March 2025. Since then, the launch has been pushed through a string of dates — September 2025, December 2025, March 2026, May 2026, June 15, and now July 15 — each missed in turn. Officials have maintained that construction on the line is more than 95 percent complete, with trial runs already finished on the stretch.
Commuters running out of patience
The repeated postponements have hit hardest among the IT workforce that commutes daily to Hinjawadi's Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park, many of whom continue to face long, congested drives along the corridor the metro is meant to relieve. Commuters say they've lost count of the launch dates they've been given, with each new promise followed by another wait.
Once operational, Metro Line 3 is expected to ease pressure on some of Pune's most congested stretches — Hinjawadi, Wakad, Baner and Shivajinagar, and eventually extend connectivity from the IT hub to the city centre. But the project's recurring delays underscore a broader pattern in Pune's infrastructure rollout, where construction milestones have consistently outpaced the regulatory clearances needed to actually open a line to the public.
