Comments
The Kerala Cabinet has decided to entrust the Rs 6,728-crore twin-light metro projects for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode cities to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
This brings to a closure the controversy over the choice of a consultant for the mass rapid transit projects whose combined size is only next to that of the Vizhinjam international seaport cleared recently.
Turnkey project
Being taken up along the lines of the Kochi Metro, this also puts paid to the suggestion by the State Planning Board and the Finance Department for a global tender for awarding the consultancy for the project.
DMRC will instead get the turnkey for the project, an official spokesman said here late last night.
The State Government will now seek the approval of the Centre since its share of 20 per cent (Rs 1,278 crore) in the project is expected to be borne by the Union Ministry of Urban Affairs.
Matching share
The State will put in a matching share and the remaining 60 per cent of the estimated cost is sought to be met through an external loan.
According to sources, no decision has been taken on the external funding agency although E Sreedharan, principal advisor to DMRC, has been suggesting the name of Japanese International Cooperation Agency.
He had proposed that funds could be raised at as low as 0.5 per cent from this agency, which would help reduce the burden on the cash-strapped state of servicing it.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.