The Kerala government has decided to give administrative sanction to a detailed project report prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), after the latter’s advisor E Sreedharan had commented on the slow progress of the Rs 6,728-crore Light Metro rail project in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.
“All communication issues with E Sreedharan, advisor to DMRC, regarding the project have been ironed out,” the chief minister told mediapersons after a meeting of the cabinet in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. “The state government will now write a fresh letter to the central government seeking the in-principle clearance for the project,” he added. He admitted that the previous letter to the central government did not have sufficient clarity. However, following the administrative sanction from the state cabinet, all communication issues have been cleared. The project will be overseen by DMRC, the chief minister said.
The Kerala government had earlier considered going for monorail projects. After the preliminary tendering process, the project was dropped as doubts cropped up about the financial viability of the investment-intensive technology. It was then that Sreedharan mooted the Light Metro mode.