Agent_47
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2011
- Messages
- 1,757
- Reaction score
- 1
- Country
- Location
Centre nod for Kochi Metro
KOCHI: In a move that would change the way Kochi travels, and indeed lives, the Centre accorded sanction for the much-awaited Kochi Metro rail project. When the trains actually start running, which should be no later than 2016 according to the official deadline, it will be possible to travel the 25.6 kilometre distance between Aluva and Petta in 30 minutes.
The decision was announced after the cabinet meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. It was after a long hiatus that the Centre gave the nod for the Rs 5,181.79 crore project. Sanctions have also been accorded to procure loans from Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Addressing media persons here, managing director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL), Tom Jose said, "Now we will sit down with our valued partner Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and chalk out the way forward, obtaining advice and guidance from former DMRC Chief, E Sreedharan. We aim to complete the project within a span of 3 to 4 years."
He said that KMRL was looking at integrating various forms of transportation including rail, water and road, which will be Kochi Metro's USP. Speaking on the process of utilising funds provided by the Centre, and those contributed by the state, Tom Jose said, "Our first priority is land acquisition. Without completing that, no civil work can be started and the project cannot move further. The funds will also be used for any activity which can be done along with land acquisition."
Centre nod for Kochi Metro - The Times of India
Kochi metro rail to be up and running by 2016
With the Centre giving its clearance for the Rs.5,182 crore metro rail project, the Kochi metro is expected to be running by 2016 in the Aluva-MG Road-Pettah corridor, covering a distance of 25 km.
The work was scheduled to begin in 2006, so as to commission the project by 2010. But procedural and political wrangles delayed the Union Cabinet’s nod for the project.
Central agencies expressed their doubts about the financial viability of the project, since Kochi did not qualify as a metropolitan city because it did not have a population of over 10 lakh. This was resolved after the then State government convinced the agencies about how the metro rail would benefit people living in the suburban municipalities and those coming to the city for work from nearby districts.
Long road
The previous LDF government wanted the project to be executed on the lines of the Delhi and Chennai metros — as a Centre-State joint venture, without private participation. This was because the private participant would have sought vast tracts of land from the government to raise capital for the project. Still, the Planning Commission wanted the project to be executed as a public-private-partnership (PPP) initiative. Though the UDF government came to power in the State in 2011, the Central nod for the project seemed elusive. But the Planning Commission toned down its initial stand and said that the issue of PPP was best left to the State government to decide.
Faced with widespread opposition to a PPP, including from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s Principal Advisor E. Sreedharan, the State government decided to stick to a Centre-State JV scheme, on the lines of the Chennai metro. The State Cabinet formed the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. (KMRL) as the special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the project in 2011, to coordinate with Central and State agencies. Following this, the KMRL submitted the revised DPR after revising the project cost from the Rs.2,239 crore proposed in 2005 to Rs.5,181 crore. The Centre’s expected share in the project is Rs.1,002.23 crore (approximately 19.3% of total project cost), while the State’s share is Rs.2,009.56 crore (approximately 38.7%) and the loan from JICA – Rs.2,170 crore (about 42%).
Trains with three coaches are expected to ply initially. The total cost per km (including civil works, coaches, signals, stations etc.) is expected to be Rs.202.31 crore.
Sources in the agency said that over 32 hectares will have to be acquired for constructing the coach-maintenance depot at Muttom near Aluva, the 22 metro stations and to widen the roads.
Sources in the KMRL said that they obtained requisite approvals from Central agencies within a record time of nine months after submitting the revised DPR.
The Hindu : Cities / Kochi : Kochi metro rail to be up and running by 2016
. He is not from Kochi, he's from Trivandrum.
