The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has submited to the Kerala government a detailed project report for a high-speed railway line that will trim the travel time from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram from 12 hours to just 120 minutes.
For the project that costs around Rs 1,27,849 crore, DMRC recommends neither PPP (public-private participation) nor BOT (build, operate, transfer) model, but JICA (Japan International Co-operation Agency) soft loans, similar to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad line.
[related-post]
E Sreedharan, principal advisor to DMRC, is categorical that the high-speed railway project needs to be implemented as a government initiative. Since high-speed rail projects are not strong on financial viability, it would be tough to get viable partners for PPP or BOT models, he said.
At the same time, the DMRC dossier observes that “the project is financially self-sustaining and no government support will be needed at any time for operating the system.”
The absence of a partner was the moot point on which the previous UDF government had dithered away from Sreedharan’s recommendation. A special purpose vehicle had been formed, but the Congress-led government was sceptical about going solo. “The ball is in the government’s court.
If the DPR gets the nod and the project is accomplished on schedule, the high-speed railway can be commissioned in nine years. It can carry 0.95 lakh passengers a day in 2025-26,” DMRC sources told FE.
