Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Union Housing Minister Manohar Lal Khattar inaugurated the first phase of Bhopal Metro on 20 December, 2025, ahead of commercial services starting on December 21. 

The initial seven-kilometre stretch on the Orange Line, covering eight elevated stations from Subhash Nagar to AIIMS, will serve around 3,000 daily commuters. State Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya was also present at the ceremony. Bhopal becomes the second city in Madhya Pradesh after Indore and the 26th city in India to have Metro connectivity. Housing Minister Khattar highlighted that India’s Metro network is expanding rapidly, with a current length of 1,083 km set to increase to 1,090 km, aiming to surpass the United States soon. 

The full Bhopal Metro project spans 30.8 km with two lines—Orange with 16.74 km, and Blue spanning14.16 km, and a depot, with an estimated total cost of Rs 10,033 crore. The priority corridor alone cost Rs 2,225 crore. The project began with surveys in the early 2010s and DPR approval in 2015.