RailEnquiry

Technical experts from the Japan International Corporation Agency’s (JICA) fact-finding team have given their nod for the technology that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) proposes to use for the Kochi Metro Rail project, according to DMRC’s Principal Adviser E. Sreedharan.This includes the technology for trains and the signal system. ‘‘They are already in the know of the technology that we adopted for the Delhi Metro project,” he said here on Thursday after attending a meeting of the visiting JICA team and officials of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL). The DMRC had earlier said that it would adopt the latest fourth-generation technology for the Kochi project.Mr. Sreedharan said that a few doubts and apprehensions that the JICA team had about the project were cleared following Thursday’s discussions.“We assured them that the project will be completed in a time-bound manner. (Mr. Sreedharan has repeatedly said that the DMRC will complete the project within three years of the project being handed over to it.) We also cleared doubts about the metro’s ridership and the tender process.”Mr. Sreedharan had on Wednesday reiterated that the DMRC would invite tenders for the numerous works related to the project.Stating the purpose of the JICA team’s visit, Mr. Sreedharan said that they had a three-stage evaluation process. Two more appraisal teams will arrive prior to finalising the loan. (The Rs.5,182-crore project requires a loan of Rs.2,174 crore, which works out to 44 per cent of the total project cost.) Though the loan process usually takes up to one year, the duration may be shortened. The metro’s stakeholders hope to get the loan at an interest rate of 1.50 per cent.

(The Centre’s expected share in the project is Rs.1,002.23 crore, 19.3 per cent of the total cost, and the State’s, Rs.2,009.56 crore, 38.7 per cent).

The Metro’s initial work will be executed using these funds.