THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As DMRC and the Finance Department are on different boards concerning the Light Metro Projects at Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, the state government is trying to reach a consensus between both by pursuing a part of the project in the private-public partnership (PPP) mode with government funding, highly placed sources told ‘ Express’. The decision in this regard will be taken on Monday. “However, the government will work out such a way that the project will be led by principal advisor to DMRC E Sreedharan,” sources said. They pointed out that though the government fully endorsed Sreedharan’s view that the project should be an exclusive government project, it could not be blind to the suggestions put forth by the Finance Department, at the same time. “The government is trying to reach a decision which is agreeable to both. That will be our primary aim. But if the PPP model finds out to be exerting unsurmountable pressure on the government, it will not be considered,” sources said. At the same time, KPCC president V M Sudheeran has also written to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to retain E Sreedharan to lead the Light Metro projects in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode. He wrote it as some suggestions which cropped up in the KPCC executive meet. Endorsing Sreedharan’s view that the project should not be in PPP mode, Sudheeran pointed out the flaws if the government pursued the PPP model.
His letter also said that the Delhi-airport metro line, Hyderabad metro, Mumbai metro line-1 and Mumbai metro line-2 were failures. Only Mumbai metro line-2 materialised, but with much delay. The Finance Department suggested that rolling stock, traction and signalling system and the like to be in PPP mode.