Indian Railways to take over East West Metro soon: Mukul Roy

Indian Railways will soon take over the East West Metro Project as an inter-ministerial note in this regard has been sent to the Union Cabinet, Railway Minister Mukul Roy said here on Monday.

Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation’s (KMRC), a joint venture between the Union Urban Development Ministry and the West Bengal government, is developing the Rs 4,874-crore East-West Metro project connecting Salt Lake to Howrah.

“An inter-ministerial note has been sent for the handing over East West Metro. We hope that soon the East West Metro will be taken over by the Indian Railways,” Roy said.

Both West Bengal government and Union Urban Ministry which have 30 per cent and 25 per cent stake in the project, will be handing over their shares to the Railways, which is operating the existing metro services in the city. The rest of the 45 per cent of the total project cost was taken as loan by KMRC from Japanese Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC). Two committees were also formed in September 2011, to work out the modalities for the handing over the project.