The Hindu Business Line : Work on Mumbai Metro to begin by June

A consortium led by Reliance Energy Ltd (REL) of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has won the Rs 2,356-crore contract for the first phase of the Mumbai Metro Rail project, the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh said on Thursday.

He told reporters at Mantralaya that work on the 11-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route, under phase-I, will commence by June and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh would lay the foundation stone. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), consisting of REL and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), would execute the project. Phase-I is likely to be completed by 2009, Mr Deshmukh said.

Commuting time

The entire Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route would be on `Standard Gauge' elevated rails with 12 elevated stations. It will have a carrying capacity of 60,000 persons per hour and the commuting time on the entire stretch would be 21 minutes. Today the commuting time between Versova and Ghatkopar is 70 minutes.

Mr Deshmukh said the MMRDA would hold 26 per cent equity in the SPV for which a provision of Rs 134 crore has been made. The project will run on Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis for 35 years, of which the first five years will be the construction period, he said.

Viability Gap Funding

French company Connex and Hong Kong MRT are the other members of the consortium, and they will provide the technical know-how.

The REL had calculated a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) at Rs 1,251 crore for the project but this has been brought down to Rs 650 crore.

Clarifying on the issue, Dr T. Chandra Shekhar, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, said that the REL-led consortium expected a rate of return at 26 per cent but the MMRDA convinced them that globally such return on public transport was not possible. Therefore the consortium agreed on 15 per cent. The Rs 650 crore VGF would be met through Union and State Government resources, he said.

Fare structure

The Mumbai Metro Rail would be 146.5 km long and estimated to cost Rs 19,500 crore. There are nine lines, of which 32.5 km would be underground and 114 km elevated rails. The fist phase would be fully functional by 2011, second phase by 2016 and third phase by 2021.

When questioned by the media about the potential hazards for the project, Dr Chandra Shekhar said that the project did not face any hazards.

The Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route will have 12 stations comprising Versova, D.N. Nagar, Azad Nagar, Andheri, Western Express Highway, Chakala, Airport, Marol Naka, Saki Naka, Subhash Nagar, Asalpha Road and Ghatkopar.

The proposed fare structure is Rs 6 up to 3 km, Rs 8 for 3-8 km and Rs 10 for a distance over 8 km.

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