India, Aug. 10 -- Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said that the metro route be extended to Uruli Kanchan instead of stopping at Loni Kalbhor, citing the city's rising population and traffic bottlenecks on the Pune-Solapur highway.

"Planning should account for increasing urbanisation in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad and corresponding infrastructure needs," he said.

Currently, Pune's metro covers 33 km, with another 33 km under construction.

The proposal forms part of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) for the Pune Metropolitan Region, submitted by Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro), which envisions 312 km of metro and metro-light corridors across the city by 2054.

The plan also calls for upgrades to road,...