 "Chennai Metro")
It has just been over a month-and-a-half since the Chennai Metro was flagged off and expansion of the project is facing challenges. Tunnelling in one stretch has halted and the state and the central governments are arguing about who should pay for extending the line.
The 10.5 km stretch of the 45 km in Phase I of the Chennai Metro was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on June 29. On weekdays, 40,000 passengers commute by the Metro, while on weekends this goes up to around 100,000.
So far the operations are limited, but once the line reaches St Thomas Mount and the airport is connected, service is expected to pickup. The extended line will connect the major suburbs to workplaces, the airport and the railway station.
Answering a question in the Lok Sabha recently, Union Minister of State for Urban Development Babul Supriyo said 78 per cent of the work was complete on the two corridors of the Chennai Metro, and these might become operational by December 2017. Work on the Chennai Metro started in 2009 and the original cost for Phase I was estimated at Rs 14,600 crore. This was raised to Rs 20,000 crore because of delays, a depreciating rupee and higher construction and labour costs. Of the total cost, 59 per cent will come as loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JICA) and 30 per cent will be shared by the Centre and Tamil Nadu governments equally. The balance will be raised through subordinate debt. The length of Phase I of the Chennai Metro is 45 km, 23.1 km between Washermanpet and the airport, and 22 km between Chennai Central and St Thomas Mount.
Tunnelling under Anna Salai has halted. Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) has terminated the contract with Gammon due to delays after its joint venture (JV) partner, Russian construction firm Mosmetrostroy, abandoned work. The line was supposed to be completed by the end of this year. The cost will also go up because the new tender will be based on increased raw material prices and manpower costs.
The investment required for the rest of the work on this stretch is Rs 800 crore and this is expected to climb to Rs 1,000 crore. Besides, Gammon has moved the Madras High Court against the termination of its contract.
Gammon bagged the Rs 1,947 crore contract with Mosmetrostroy in 2011 to design and build seven underground stations for CMRL. The venture was building underground stations in an 18 km tunnel. Mosmetrostroy was tunnelling and Gammon was building the stations.
The Russian firm, however, walked out of the project. Material and equipment contractors have staged a protest in front of the CMRL headquarters in Koyambedu demanding the state government pay Rs 29 crore due to them from Mosmetrostroy. The matter is in court now. Around 70 per cent of the tunnelling had been completed on the stretch. Gammon has told the court it can get an Italian company to replace Mosmetrostroy. It is ready to give an undertaking that it will finish the project in a particular timeframe, but CMRL is not accepting the assurance.
The Union urban affairs ministry has also said it will not be able to pay for extension of the corridor up to Wimco Nagar, a distance of 9.051 km, at an updated cost of Rs 2,796 crore. This extension was proposed to the Centre and at the instance of the Union urban affairs ministry, the state government brought down the project cost to within 20 per cent of the original estimate. The ministry has now written saying the proposal represents a change of scope and the entire cost should be borne by the state government. To which Jayalalithaa has replied it will not be correct to push the cost on to the Tamil Nadu government while keeping the Centre's equity in the project intact. She has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and have the extension approved on the cost sharing pattern of the original project.
S Krishnan, principal secretary-department of planning and special initiatives, government of Tamil Nadu said according to the agreement, change of scope has to be funded by the state government. "But we have said that it is not change of scope, it is brand new extension. It is just a minor misunderstanding and it will be sorted out between the state and the Centre."
In the second phase three corridors with a total length of 76 km have been identified. Their tentative cost is Rs 36,100 crore.
The Chennai Metro has been planned to integrate with other forms of public transport - buses, suburban trains and a mass rapid transport system. With connectivity improving to the suburbs, property buyers are considering settling down away from the city centre.
Real estate demand in the suburbs has seen a significant increase and property developers have announced new launches in these areas. Prices near the metro stations have already reached Rs 7,000-16,000 per square foot and are expected to increase further, now that the line is operational, according to A Shankar, national director JLL India.
