A high-level meeting of officials convened here by the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, has favoured the Chennai model for the proposed Kochi Metro Rail project.
The Kochi project will straddle a length of 25.25 km on the Aluva-Petta stretch right through the heart of Kochi city. The concession period shall be of 30 years from the date of commissioning, according to the initial tender document.
The State Government expected to get expedited approval from the Centre for the Build-Operate-Transfer project, the Chief Minister said. Both Governments would have equal stakes in the implementation of the project.
This puts paid to the private-public participation (PPP) mode mooted earlier by the Planning Commission but quietly buried due to pressure from successive State Governments.
Earlier, Mr E. Sreedharan, Chairman of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and a consultant for the Kochi project, too, had expressed his reservations about the PPP mode.
The State Government has requested the DMRC to start preliminary and preparatory works for the project. It has also sanctioned Rs159 crore to latter for the purpose.
PRELIMINARY WORK
According to this, the DMRC would execute preliminary work, including widening of approaches to roads, and building of approaches to road overbridges along the lines of work being executed for the Jaipur Metro.
In Jaipur, the DMRC has been asked to build the first line of 9.25 km comprising nine stations.
According to Mr Sreedharan, the Central and State Governments should contribute 25 per cent each to the equity of the project, and the rest of the money may be loaned from a consortium of banks.
It may be recalled that the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, had rejected Kerala's demand for Central assistance and asked the state to invest own money and seek help from private investors.
NOT VIABLE
But Mr Sreedharan was of the view that private investment would not be a viable option as the Kochi project was unlikely to generate attractive profit.
Separately, the Chief Minister said the issue pertaining to evictees at Moolampilly in Kochi to facilitate the Vallarpadam international container transhipment project has been settled amicably following talks with various stakeholders.
Title deeds would be handed over to the evictees at the earliest. The District Administration has been asked to take care of the water, power, drainage and road connectivity issues locally.