Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) initiated the tunnelling activity for package-1 which comprises of Cuffe Parade, Vidhan Bhavan, Churchgate and HutatmaChowk station. Mr Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman Mumbai port trust and Mr KP Bakshi former Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra, Mr SN Subramanyan, Chairman L&T along with Ms. Ashwini Bhide, Managing Director MMRC, Mr S. K. Gupta, Director Projects and other senior officials inaugurated the tunnel boring procedure. Residents of Cuffe Parade and members of CPRA were also present for the inauguration. This is the 10th TBM that has been commissioned in the Metro 3 Corridor.

The TBM Surya 1 weighing approx 700 – 800 tonnes with 6.65 diameter and 98m length is manufactured by The Robbins Company from Shenyang, China which will be used to construct a 4.4 km long route between Cuffe Parade & Hutatma Chowk Metro Station.

Commenting on the occasion, Ms. Aswhini Bhide, MD, MMRC said, “We are pleased to commission the 10th TBM of the project and the tunneling process in package 1 of the project. We are grateful to the cooperation and support extended by Cuffe Parade residents for this ambitious project."

Out of 17 Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM), 16 have already arrived in Mumbai out of which 14 are lowered and 10 are commissioning currently.