A high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Monday decided to go ahead with the Light Metro project mooted by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for two cities in the State on turnkey basis.
It rejected the proposals of the State Planning Board and the Finance Department to opt for the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
The decision to forward to the Cabinet the detailed project report (DPR) submitted by the DMRC, instead of the scrapped monorail, was taken after a one-to-one meeting Mr. Chandy had with DMRC Principal Adviser E. Sreedharan at Cliff House, followed by another meeting attended by five Ministers, the Chief Secretary, and top DMRC officials at the Secretariat.
The decision, after seven months and amid threats of the DMRC pulling out of the mass rapid transit system project for 35.12 km in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode if it were implemented in PPP mode, incidentally came on the day the United Democratic Front government completed four years in office.
“We have decided to go for the Light Metro proposed by Mr. Sreedharan and the road map prepared by him. The Cabinet will take up the DPR submitted by the DMRC this week or next week,” the Chief Minister told presspersons after the meeting.
The project will be executed with 20 per cent equity each of the State and the Union governments and the remaining 60 per cent through loan provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The meeting was held after the one held on April 28 under Mr. Chandy failed to arrive at a decision on the project.
Public opinion was also building up against the move to oust the DMRC and Mr. Sreedharan.
PPP mode shot down; DPR to be forwarded to Cabinet
