CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s efforts to garner a substantial funding from the Japanese government for its ambitious Chennai Monorail project may not materialise as expected, with the governmental agency from Japan expressing its inability to fund the proposal to commission it under the public-private-partnership model.
Ichiguchi Tomohide, senior representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), said that the agency was keen to fund the `16,650 crore project if not for the private partnership.
Providing financial support to Chennai Monorail project could only happen if the State Government makes a policy change to make the project a wholly public funded one, he said.
Unlike the Chennai Metro Rail project which is public-funded, the Monorail is proposed to be commissioned under the PPP model, to be executed as a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) scheme. The State will fund only `970.5 crore to the operator as a grant.
As long as the proposal is to undertake the work under the PPP model, it is not eligible for funding from JICA, said Tomohide.
The State Government has identified four monorail corridors, and has already issued request for qualification (RFQ) from interested parties to develop the project. Monorails will run between Poonamallee and Kathipara with a link from Porur to Vadapalani.
Tamil Nadu had created a Special Purpose Vehicle for commissioning the Chennai Metro Rail project, that was incorporated under the Companies Act in December 2007. It has now been converted into a joint venture of the Centre and State governments.