Thaindian News

Mumbai, Jan 21 (IANS) A consortium led by Reliance Infrastructure, a part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has signed an agreement with the Maharashtra government for the $2.2-billion second Metro Rail project (Mumbai Metro-II) in this India’s commercial capital.
The project has been awarded to the consortium, which includes Reliance Communication and SNC Lavalin of Canada, based on international competitive bidding under the public-private partnership framework.

The 32-km corridor, conceived as a fully elevated project with 27 stations, will link Navi Mumbai and the western suburbs with Charkop in the north to Bandra and then to Mankhurd in the east, the company said in a statement.

“We are happy to sign the concession agreement of Mumbai Metro-II today and confident of achieving the financial closure before October 2010,” said Lalit Jalan, chief executive and whole-time director of Reliance Infrastructure.

The company now has three Metro projects in hand worth Rs.16,000 crore ($3.2 billion).

“Once the Metro projects are completed, they will serve areas not connected by existing suburban rail system and provide much needed comfort and convenience to the 1.6 million commuters daily,” added K.P. Maheshwari, senior executive vice-president.

Reliance Infrastructure’s Mumbai Metro-I project is slated to be completed by 2010, some 15 months ahead of schedule. Its Delhi Airport Express Line project is also targeted for commissioning before the Commonwealth Games in October.

“Every major city in the country is planning to have a Metro Rail. Beside the big cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Jaipur, we will be exploring opportunities in smaller cities like Pune, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad as well,” Jalan said.

The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, with interests in infrastructure, telecom, energy, key financial services and entertainment, has a market capitalization of $35.1 billion, net worth of $13.6 billion and an operating cash flow of $2.8 billion.