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Mr E. Sreedharan, former Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, has said that the Japanese International Cooperation Agency has agreed to extent loan for the proposed Kochi Metro Rail project, even if global tenders are not called for appointing consultants.
He told reporters here on Wednesday that he had spoken to JICA officials in this regard, and they have no objections in providing loans to the project if DMRC was entrusted with the work. DMRC will call for global tenders for executing the project. He also pointed out that DMRC had undertaken various projects including Gurgaon–Noida and Fareedabad extensions of the Delhi Metro without calling for global tenders.
Mr Sreedharan's comments assume significance in the wake of a controversy over the State Government's move to call for global tenders for the Rs 5,200 crore Kochi Metro Rail project.
He said there was no need to call for global tenders for appointing general consultants. DMRC is opposed to global tenders for appointing general consultants. Give the job to DMRC, they will call for global tenders, he said, adding that Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) had no expertise in handling such a complicated project.
He said he had conveyed this to State Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, in New Delhi yesterday and informed him of the pros and cons of handing the project to DMRC and KMRL. DMRC, he said, has 14 years of expertise in design, planning and executing metro projects, while KMRL does not have technical competence at all.
Referring to Kochi Metro Rail project, he said t the pre Planning Board and Investment Board had cleared the proposal and was awaiting the Union Government clearance for the project. He expressed the hope that land acquisition would not be a problem for the project. Once the project gets started, everyone would cooperate, he added.
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