Thiruvananthapuram, Monday, March 02, 2009: The Kochi Metro rail project, which remained in limbo for the past three years due to various factors may get a new lease of life soon informed Minister M Vijayakumar in the assembly today. He said, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s stand on the project is favourable to Kerala.

Earlier, the Planning Commission has spiked the Kochi metro rail plan, saying the Kerala proposal to run it on the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) model is unviable saying there’s no money with the center nor such a project could not be shortlisted in the 11th Five Year Plan.

The Commission decision, conveyed to the Prime Minister’s Office, was in response to a joint request by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and Opposition leader Oommen Chandy, urging the federal government to collaborate with the State to run it as a joint venture like DMRC.

The State Cabinet had earlier last week decided to give sanction to the Kochi Metro Rail Project on the lines of Delhi Metro as a joint venture by State and Central Governments and earmark Rs 50 lakh to establish the Metro Rail Office here, the commercial hub of the State.