Metro Rail project gets Rs 550 cr allocation

Tamil Nadu government has allocated Rs 550 crore for Chennai Metro Rail Project, for which 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 percent as debt, with the balance being funded by the state.

As part of the Phase-1 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 Airport via Anna Salai. Corridor-II, with 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.