Kochi Metro to be completed in record time: Chandy (Lead, recasting para eight)

The Rs.5,180 crore Kochi metro project, which is expected to resolve travel woes in the commercial capital of Kerala, would be completed in record time, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said on Thursday.

Chandy made these comments after taking part in the board of directors' meeting of Kochi Metro Rail Limited here. He also went around the construction site.

"In the next 100 days, the coaches of the Metro would be ready," he said.

The project will run 25 km from Ernakulam district's Alwaye town to Petta.

State Minister for Power Aryadan Mohammed, who is in-charge of the project said the project would be operational in 2016.

It is being managed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, with principal advisor E. Sreedharan overseeing the project.

The central government's share of funds is close to Rs.1,000 crore, with the rest coming by way of loans which the state government has availed from funding agencies.

Sreedharan later told the media that the proposed Light Metro project in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode can start in two months, if the state government has the will.

"The state government should take into confidence the union urban ministry for obtaining the required sanction. If the state government is determined, the work can begin in two months' time," said Sreedharan.