Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd, the special purpose vehicle that would implement Line 1 of the Mumbai Metro rail project on PPP basis, was incorporated on 22 December 2006. The board of MMOPL will have 12 members with three being from Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the nodal agency that has 26 per cent stake in the MMOPL, and eight being from the Reliance Energy-Veola Transport consortium that has 74 per cent stake. One member will represent the leading lending agency, it is learnt.

In another development, MMRDA has received expressions of interest from 22 entities, including international companies, for the appointment of an engineering consultant who will act independently and fairly between MMOPL, the concessionaire, and MMRDA, the grantor of concession. MMRDA has shortlisted six entities and the final selection will be done on 12 January 2007, a senior MMRDA official said. The independent engineer will, inter alia, approve designs, drawings and specifications for all subsystems of the Mumbai Metro project (Line 1).

Civil work on Line 1 is expected to start in March 2007, with most of the pre-project work like geotechnical studies and mapping of utilities to be shifted in an advanced stage of completion. Reliance Energy is also progressing well with shortlisting of civil construction contractors, EOIs for which were invited in October 2006.

Line 1 of the Mumbai Metro will be a 12-km fully-elevated standard gauge double line between Versova and Ghatkopar, via Andheri, in north Mumbai.

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