Referring to the pull-out by Reliance Infra from Delhi Airport line, Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath on Monday said it does not mean that Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects do not work in Metro projects. He added that the Government will appoint consultants to find the best models for such projects.
“The Airport line would be run by the DMRC so that there is no inconvenience to common citizens. It would be seen from a legal point on what the solution would be. This is a contractual and legal matter. They had as per contract served an arbitration notice. Arbitration has started. Now they say we can't run because there is not enough ridership. There were hopes related to ridership, but it is only 5,000. They said it is not possible to run the line with this ridership,” said Nath after the NCR Planning Board meeting.
“We will appoint consultants to see what the best model is. PPP has been successful in our country....Work on PPP model is still going on in Mumbai and Hyderabad (Metros). It is not that the PPP models are bad, they are of various types and it is not that one size fits all. So, we will see for various lines, whether PPP can work or not — is there traffic, capital cost, and how much subsidy is required. We will appoint consultants,” he added.