India's first metro rail public-private partnership (PPP), the Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd (MMOPL), was supposed to be the precursor for all such projects.

It was a sad story! But one filled with hope and optimism for the future. As per data shared by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 441 infrastructure projects have incurred cost overruns of Rs 4.35 trillion due to various, but predominantly delay in implementation.

Aging, deterioration and extreme events like earthquakes and hurricanes can take a toll on roads, bridges and other structures. With damage and defects often invisible, and to alert the authorities to potential problems and even impending catastrophic failure, the Mumbai Metro One has commissioned the world´s first real-time advanced Structural Health Monitoring System (SHMS) for Asia´s tallest cable stay bridge across the Western Express Highway (WEH)

The experience left the planners wiser. And this was evident in the 65 kilometres of the first phase of the ambitious Delhi Metro Project getting completed a full two years nine months ahead of schedule in 2005, in a period of a little over eight years.

If all the proposed metro and monorail projects were to be executed effectively and started rolling on time, Mumbai - the city of dreams - would soon be a commuters´ paradise.

The unfolding year is expected to usher in a number of positive developments in the sector. The onus now is on effective execution. With a number of metro projects lined up for construction or operational launch in 2016

The long gestation period of the project coupled with price rises led to a bid to increase the Mumbai Metro fares. Legislative changes at that juncture brought into conflict the concessioning authority and the Central Government on this issue.

Delta, a leading provider of video wall solutions, has provided a high-end video wall solution to the Operations Control Centre (OCC) of Mumbai Metro One Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai Metro One Pvt. Ltd (MMOPL) is a joint venture company owned by Reliance Infrastructure, Veolia Transport

Thousands of home buyers on the Noida-Greater Noida stretch heaved a sigh of relief early this year when the 20.6-km Metro rail project between Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway was cleared by the Ministry of Urban Development.