Just months ahead of the commencement of the city’s first Metro Rail service, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has terminated the contract with its prime consultant, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
CMRL officials said this would have no impact whatsoever on the Metro Rail project.
DMRC, initially an interim, and later, the principal consultant for CMRL, had been appointed to play an advisory role in the implementation of phase-I of Chennai Metro, as early as in 2008, said an official of CMRL.
Though the period of this contract extends up to May 2015, the consultancy was terminated in September, said the official.
“When the project was launched, DMRC played a crucial role. But we have now realised their contribution is relatively less and that we can do without it. So, the contract was terminated. But we may seek their assistance on a case-to-case basis,” said the CMRL official.
Apart from DMRC, general consultants (GC) were appointed in 2009 to ‘assist CMRL in design, supervision, quality control, safety and contract management’ of phase-I of the project.
Chennai Metro that sprawls over 45 km of the city is being built at a cost of Rs. 14,600 crore. Of this amount, the detailed project report notes, ‘the prime consultants will be paid about 0.3-0.5 per cent of the project cost’.
DMRC is also a prime consultant for Metro Rail projects in Bangalore and Kochi.
