E Sreedharan, managing director Delhi Metro, has promised UP
government
his full cooperation in the construction of metro rail in Lucknow and
Kanpur.

At a meeting with the chief secretary on Saturday, Sreedharan advised
government
officials to prepare a detailed project report to find out the
feasibility and
the model suitable for construction of metro rails in these two
cities.

Later, while replying to student queries at LMA function, Sreedharan
said that
UP government is very keen to develop metro rail in all the cities
with
population of over one million. However, he suggested government
officials to
first take up Lucknow and Kanpur where population is over three
million.

"World over metro rails are constructed in cities where population is
over two
million. The principle is that one should start planning for metro
rail when the
population reaches one million and start construction when it crosses
two million," he said.

However, he said, in India the planning commission recommends metro
rail only
for those cities where population has crossed three million.

Sreedharan said it takes at least 6-9 months to prepare a detailed
project
report for metro rail. "Thereafter, we have to look for funds," he
said. The
project requires a joint effort of both the state and Central
governments. "We
cannot take hasty decisions because the cost of metro rail is very
high," he added.

While the overhead metro rail costs around Rs 150 crore per kilometre,
the
expenditure on underground project comes to be around Rs 270 crore per
kilometre. Once both the state and Central governments approve the
project, a
new company has to be floated which applies for loans from various
institutions to fund the project, he said.

Sreedharan said another viable option is to construct the metro rail
through public-private-partnership (PPP) model.

In the PPP model, he said, government generally gives prime land to
the company
which raises funds for construction of the metro. The company runs the
metro for
25-30 years before handing it to government, he said. Sreedharan has
also been
invited by Pakistan to help design metro rail projects for Karachi and
Lahore.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lucknow/Sreedharan_ready_to_help_U...
rail/articleshow/3347422.cms

10 Aug 2008, 0527 hrs IST