The Mumbai Metro Rail Project, being developed jointly by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, will be taken up by secretary-level appraisal committee meeting on Wednesday to assess whether the project could be funded under the Viability Gap Funding.
It is yet to be decided whether the Rs 2,356 crore (Rs 23.56 billion) Phase One of the project is eligible for VGF or not, a key finance ministry official told PTI.
The project has sought Rs 650 crore (Rs 6.5 billion) of VGF, 20 per cent of which is to be contributed by the Centre and the remaining by the Maharashtra government.
In July, the finance ministry had given preliminary clearance to the project after which the urban development ministry, a nodal authority for the project, gave comments on it.
On reports that the finance ministry is now denying VGF for the project on the grounds that the bidding for the project was finalised before the Public-Private-Partnership Appraisal Committee was formed, the official said nothing has been decided as of now.
Whether the project is eligible for VGF or not will be decided at the committee's meeting on November 1, he said.
The MMRDA maintained that if the project is not cleared, the state government would arrange for the funding through the authority.