Metro Rail board members likely to be named Wednesday

The state government is likely to announce its nominees to the Kochi Metro Rail director board, undergoing a reconstitution, on Wednesday.

The newly reconstituted board will be responsible for all the important decisions of the Kochi Metro Rail.

Out of the 10 board members, five would be nominated by the Central Government and five by the state government. Earlier this week, the Central Government had announced its nominees. Urban Development Secretary Sudhir Krishna, has been nominated as the chairman of the KMRL.

Ex-officio joint secretary of Ministry of Urban Affairs S K Lohia, Bangalore Metro Rail director (RSE) D D Pahuja, DMRC director (works) Jitendra Tyagi, and an additional member from the Railway Board are the other nominated members.

The initiative would have 50-50 participation by the Centre and the state governments.

While the Central Government nominates the chairman and four members to the director board, the state government nominates the managing director and four other members. Currently, Tom Jose is the MD of the KMRL.

Once the reconstitution of the board is completed, the government is expected to speed up the loan application procedures for availing of aid from Japan International Agency.