Indonesia keen on DMRC as consultant for Metro project

New Delhi, Jul 4 (UNI) An Indonesian delegation today discussed the possibility of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) providing consultancy assistance for the proposed Metro system in Jakarta with the corporation's Managing Director E Sreedharan.

A delegation, consisting of ten officials, including Indonesian Assistant Deputy Minister for Transportation Mesra Eza, indicated they would approach the DMRC soon for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in areas, including economic operational viability studies, since the Delhi Metro was one of the few Metros in the world making an operational profit from day one.

The DMRC in a statement said Jakarta's mass rapid transport system was keen to understand the methodologies adopted by the DMRC for public affairs handling since both Jakarta and New Delhi have massive populations, transportation bottlenecks and depended largely on road transport.

The delegation also visited construction sites where tunnel-boring machines were working, the Metro Operations Control Centre and took a ride on the Delhi Metro.

They were accompanied by officials of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

Jakarta is building a 14 km-long Metro line, of which 4 km is underground, with substantial financial assistance from the JBIC.

Operations are expected to start in 2014 in the city, which is the largest in South-East Asia.

The DMRC had carried out its first international consultancy project in Jakarta where it conducted a Special Assistance on Project Implementation (SAPI) study.

The JBIC, which has also provided soft loan to Delhi Metro, has identified the DMRC as a successful model exhibiting best practices.

Other countries that have shown interest in Delhi Metro's expertise include Syria, Pakistan, Ireland, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, said a DMRC spokesman.

UNI MMG SKB VC2016