Tamil Nadu government has allocated Rs 550 crore for Chennai Metro Rail Project, for which the construction work was flagged off by state’s Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday. The Rs 14,600 crore and 45 km long project is expected commence operation by 2014-15.

Speaking after commencing piling work for the construction elevated tracks from Koyambedu to Ashok Nagar, Stalin said that the project is being implemented by a special purpose vehicle Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. He added, 59 per cent of the project cost will be funded by a concessional loan by the Japanese government. The central government will contribute 15 per cent as equity and 5 per cent as debt, with the balance being funded by the state. 

As part of the Phase-I Project Corridor-I with a length of 23.1 kms (14.3 km underground and 8.8 km elevated) will be built between Washermanpet to the Airport via Anna Salai. Corridor-II, with a length of 22 kms (9.7 kms underground and 12.3 km elevated) will connect Chennai Central with St Thomas Mount via Koyambedu.

A five-member consortium led by Egis Rail SA of France have been appointed as general consultants to assist Chennai Metro Rail in design, supervision, quality control and safety of the project.

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