DMRC requested for feasibility report for Metro from Lanka, Syria

New Delhi, Aug 25 (UNI) The success of the Delhi Metro has led countries like Sri Lanka and Syria to approach the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for preparation of feasibility reports for metro systems for Colombo and Damascus respectively, the Lok Sabha was told today.

Replying to a query in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken said,''requests have been recieved from the Governments of Sri Lanka and Syria for preparation of feasibility reports for Metro ssytems for the capital cities of Colombo and Damascus respectively.'' Mr Maken said the DMRC had also recieved requests from several state governments for preparation of feasibility reports/ detailed project reports for setting up metro systems in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Pune.

The Minister, however, stated that the purpose of the consultancy services was not purely commercial.

''The DMRC is undertaking consultancy on the basis of the experience gained and the expertise while executing the Delhi Metro Project, mainly to help and guide the state governments wanting to plan similar systems in their cities. Hence, the charges proposed are meagre compared to other international consultants,''Mr Maken said.

While the net revenue generated by DMRC from consultancy services, after meeting all expenditure related to field survey and studies was Rs 0.90 crore in 2002-03, Rs 2.08 crore in 2003-04, Rs 2.18 crore in 2004-05 and Rs 4.68 crore in 2005-06, Mr Maken said.

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