Kochi: Kochi Metro Rail Limited, the special purpose vehicle formed for executing the prestigious metro project, has completed six years of formation. Though delayed for a year, the KMRL could finish the first reach of its first phase and the second reach from Palarivattom to Maharajas is expected to be ready by November. The Union and the state government incorporated the joint-venture on August 2, 2011, started construction of the Rs 5181 crore project formally on June 7, 2013, and launched the first reach from Aluva to Palarivattom on June 17.
Though delayed slightly, the metro could achieve the honour of the fastest metro project to be commissioned in the country. In Delhi, it took four years and two months to complete the 8.5 km stretch while in Bangalore the six km stretch from Byappanahalli to MG Road corridor was commissioned in five years.
The project also has a few other records to its credit. The French funding agency AFD provided a soft loan of Rs 1,500 crore which was the biggest foreign loan received by any project in the state. Kochi Metro also set a new record in the number of passengers during the initial days after launching commercial services. In the first month, it could earn a revenue of Rs 4.62 crore.
