Hearing on Mumbai Metro One postponed for March 4
24 Feb, 2015In a case of reversal of role, the former informer information commissioner at the Central Information Commission (CIC) Mr. Shailesh Gandhi has taken up an appeal before the State Information Commission (SIC). He has challenged the reply of the Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) that it is not a public authority and hence is not covered under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Mr. Gandhi argued that the Metro one is ‘substantially’ funded by the government which had put in Rs 133 crore as equity and Rs 650 crore as viability gap funding in the project.
As the MMOPL lawyer sought an adjournment citing lack of preparation, the hearing before a bench of state information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad and information commissioner for Mumbai region A K Jain proposed for 23.02.2015 could not materialize. Despite protests by Mr. Gandhi, the hearing was adjourned for March 4.
A spokesperson for MMOPL claimed that the completed Project Cost is about Rs 4000 Cr out of which Rs 3300 Crs were funded by MMOPL and its lenders; the increase in cost (of Rs 1600 cr) has been solely funded by MMOPL and its lenders without any recourse to MMRDA/Govt. Reliance Industries had partnered with MMRDA to provide the metro services in Mumbai.