Consultations are on over National Mobility Card: Naidu

Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu today said consultations were on with regard to the National Common Mobility Card, which enables access to all modes of transport across the country, by using a single card.
Answering a query on his ministry's proposed NCMC, he said talks were on between banks and the Railways.
"The consultation process is on," he said here.
Interacting with reporters on board the first metro train from the airport here, he said as per the revised schedule, the first phase of Chennai Metro Rail project was likely to be completed by December 2017.
A senior Metro Rail official said as part of efforts for a common mobility card, the contours were being worked out with state government agencies.

Naidu said floods and issues involving contractors had delayed the Phase I of the Metro Rail Project.

He said once the project's first phase was fully completed, the ridership was expected to be 7.75 lakh per day.
"With the opening of the metro line from Little Mount to the airport today, Chennai will now have around 19 km of operational metro network out of the total 45 km of Chennai Metro Rail's Project's Phase one," he said.
The first phase covers Wimco Nagar (extension) in North Chennai, via Washermenpet-Broadway to the airport.
Naidu said cities like Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelvelli, Dindigul, Thoothkudi, Tiruppur and Erode would participate in Round three of Smart Cities by January next year.

The Special Purpose Vehicle proposal of Chennai Smart City is likely to be completed soon and a total of Rs 1,366 crore, besides Rs 1,570 crore for Coimbatore smart city project have been approved.
He said Tamil Nadu had the highest number of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) cities (33) and that 39 projects worth Rs 7,082 crore have so far been approved for these cities.
On the single window clearance for housing projects mooted by the Centre, he said any development project would have to be cleared within 60 days after the submission of application.