Delhi Metro - Some Interesting Facts.

I found out an interesting article on Delhi Metro in Live Mint "Off the record" column. The link is at http://www.livemint.com/articles/2009/08/30220005/Delhi-Metro-what-counts-what.html

I sensed a tinge of bias against Delhi Metro in general, and Sreedharan in particular, in the whole article.Nevertheless, it discusses some very interesting points, on lines of what we discussed about the urban metros in our class. I am jotting some points that i felt were interesting.

• Presence of a champion figure in E. Sreedharan.
• Some form of reduction in Vigilance and audit has helped the decision making to become a lot quicker.
• Huge tax exemptions and soft loans provided are a critical factor for the success.
• Land acquisition was done under emergency clause of Land Acquisition act ! (I do not know whether we can acquire land under emergency clause for metros anymore.)
• He also makes a point towards the end about replicability and development of second string of leadership.

It is interesting to note a lot need to be done to create a facilitating environment for such projects. Such things may not have been possible if the project was done PPP way. We will have to see how the other metros handle these issues, where Delhi Metro was benefited by some extra-ordinary privileges.