The Andhra Pradesh Government has called upon E Sreedharan, Principal Advisor, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, to complete Vijayawada and Vizag metro rail projects by 2018.

During the meeting held on Friday, Sreedharan was asked to complete the first phase of the Vijayawada Metro Rail Project by August 2018 and Visakhapatnam Metro Rail Project by December 2018.

Discussing about the funds required for the project, the Chief Minister informed Sreedharan that the project can be executed with the support of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), according to the Chief Minister’s Office.

The DMRC team was called upon to prepare a process chart, which will enable the government to keep track of the progress of the Metro Rail project on a monthly basis.

“We should expedite the process of setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and appoint a permanent officer who will monitor progress of the project,” he said.

Amaravati metro? According to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office, Sreedharan was requested to explore the possibility of a metro rail for the proposed capital city of Amaravati, and the possibility of Light Road Transport System (LRT) in the State.

The Chief Minister and metro officials are expected to meet again on September 9 in Vijayawada to finalise the date for laying the foundation stone and other issues related to the project. While stating that an expert such as Sreedharan was required for urban planning and efficient transport management systems, the Chief Minister asked the DMRC team to prepare a report which will estimate the growing population and its transport needs. There were recent reports that the Centre had raised objection about the metro rail for Vijayawada as it does not meet the population criteria of 20 lakh. The State government plans to take this up with the Centre for consideration.

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