Urban Development Ministry accords ‘in-principle’ approval for Chennai Monorail Project costing Rs 3,267 cr

New Delhi: The Ministry of Urban Development has accorded 'In-principle' approval to the Government of Tamil Nadu for taking up the Chennai Monorail Project (CMP) Phase-1.

Under the project, Monorail services will be provided between Poonamalle and Kathipara with a link from Porur to Vadapalani with a total length of 20.68 km. with an estimated cost of Rs.3,267 cr. As per the approval accorded last week, the project would be implemented under 'Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT)' model with entire funding from the State Government/State Government agencies/ PPP Partner without any financial support from the Government of India.

The conditions stipulated include :

• The Tamil Nadu Government would ensure price based measures to promote ridership as part of an integrated traffic rationalization plan for the city to ensure ridership;
• A suitable arrangement, independent of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for periodic fare revision for other competing modes;
• To provide Multimodal integration, including suburban railways to provide network connectivity in the region to provide seamless travel;
• Setting up a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority, duly backed by legislation, to facilitate coordinated planning and implementation of urban transport projects; and
• The Government of Tamil Naidu and the central government would set up a joint oversight mechanism, the details of which would be incorporated in the Memorandum of Understanding to be signed between the two.

Chennai Metrorail Project is the fourth urban rail transport project to be approved under PPP model after Mumbai Metro Line-1 and 2 projects and Hyderabad Metro.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.