Monorail gets green signal from civic bodies

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has received alignment clearance for the 30km-long Thane-Bhivandi-Kalyan monorail line from two municipal bodies – Kalyan and Bhivandi.

MMRDA officials said that once the final clearance from Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) comes, the authority will begin the bidding process.

“We have got a nod for alignments of the monorail from civic bodies such as the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) and Bhivandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation (BNMC), who are a part of the project. Once we get the approval from TMC, we will submit the proposal to the Government of India for Viability Gap Funding (VGP) and then invite bids,” said Ashwini Bhide, MMRDA joint metropolitan commissioner.

The authority’s transport and communication division chief PRK Murthy said that while the first 20km monorail, which is under construction in Mumbai, will be a cash contract project, The Rs3,750 crore monorail project connecting Thane, Bhivandi and Kalyan will be on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis.