| The decision was taken at the MMRDA board meeting, chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. |
| Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Deshmukh said, "Formal inauguration of the project will be done by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh either in the last week of June or the first week of July." |
| The board also decided to approve the second line between Colaba and Charkop on the build, operate, own and transfer (BOOT) basis. Tenders for the second line would be issued in two months, said MMRDA Project Director T Chandrashekhar. |
| "The REL consortium has assured us that work on the first line will be completed by the end of 2009," Deshmukh added. |
| The consortium has to hand over the project to the state government in 35 years, which includes the five-year period allotted for construction activities. |
| The MMRDA board also accepted a proposal to pick up 26 per cent equity in the special purpose vehicle which will be created for the project at a cost of Rs 134 crore. |
| Replying to a question, Chandrashekhar said, "The disbursement of the VGF will depend on the progress of the work. The Central government has agreed to pick up 20 per cent of the VGF under National Urban Renewal Mission (NURM)." |
| Chandrashekhar said once it was pointed out to REL that nowhere in the world the rate of return in a transportation project was as high as the 26 per cent initially projected by the consortium, they brought down their rate of return to 15 per cent, which resulted in the reduction of VGF. |
| The first line between Ghatkopar and Versova will be 15-km long and will have 12 stations. The standard gauge rail is expected to carry around 60,000 passengers in each direction every hour when it starts functioning in 2009. |
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