Who's been extending the Blr Metro 4-5 years after the DPR was made ? extensions were nearly 10 kms and they are still happening ? Wish the sources would reveal what is going on the Mumbai project as well? ====================================== *The Man Who Could Read The Truth Spelt Backwards* *DMRC chief wrote to the Planning Commission that the extensions Maytas sought were unviable* [image: ...] <http://www.outlookindia.com/dossiersind.asp?id=898> Amba Batra Bakshi<http://www.outlookindia.com/author.asp?name=Amba+Batra+Bakshi>
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20090126&fname=Satyam+(F)&sid=2 It had virtually become a tussle between the Planning Commission and E. Sreedharan, the managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). But with the Satyam scam coming to light, the latter's stand on the Hyderabad metro project has been vindicated. Sreedharan himself maintains stoic silence on the deal, but sources close to him told *Outlook* he had smelt a rat in the project last September. The Hyderabad project, backed by the Planning Commission, was to be implemented by a consortium led by the now-discredited Maytas Infra, controlled by Teja Raju, son of Satyam chairman Ramalinga Raju. "At first DMRC supported the public-private partnership (PPP) that the Andhra government entered into with Maytas for the Hyderabad metro. But we became suspicious when the government asked us to alter the detailed project report (DPR) to extend the Metro by a 5 km stretch," the DMRC official told * Outlook*. Last November, Sreedharan wrote to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, that the extension was not viable and that the developers were looking at their own commercial interests. "It is not with commercial intention that DMRC prepares project reports," says a source close to Sreedharan. The other cause for suspicion was the company's bid offer to pay the state government Rs 30,000 crore over 20 years if awarded the project. In fact, the first tranche—Rs 11 crore—was paid in September. "When the developer offered to pay the state government, DMRC smelt a rat," says the source. In his letter to Ahluwalia, Sreedharan had pointed out that giving away 275 acres for commercial exploitation in the name of building the metro amounted to "selling the family silver." DMRC officials say the cost of building a kilometre through the PPP in Hyderabad was Rs 200 crore, whereas for Delhi Metro, which is a state-centre partnership, a kilometre cost only Rs 110 crore per kilometre. When he raised objections, the Andhra government had demanded that Sreedharan apologise, threatened to take him to court and terminated his consultancy for the project. The Planning Commission, too, questioned the allegations and was in open support of Maytas and the Andhra government. Sources say the PPP model is not working well in Mumbai, where one stretch of the metro is being implemented by Reliance. Vijay Mallya had offered to develop parts of the Bangalore metro through a PPP; work just did not take off. But the Planning Commission seems stuck on that model. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Citizens' Action Forum" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/citizens-action-forum?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
