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1) Sreedharan gets all the credit because of his Impeccable Integrity. And how can he really groom "Integrity" for his juniors? 2)Politicians dont interfere because he is a person who delivers on time within budget. and if the project is completed they get votes. its simple. 3) you shouldnt forget that there is a cost saving of approx 500cr per year for the general public in delhi because they use metro. This savings doesnt come in the profit of DMRC. (but as a whole it doesnt matter if the people saves money or the government saves money!!) 4) i heard only 5 metros out of the 150(approx) metros in the world makes operational profit. Delhi metro is one among them. sreedharan works like an entrepreneur 5) metro should take a decision of 50 rs loss for the metro project if it gives 100rs profit for public. this can be done only in a public sector company like DMRC. (this is why all the BOT based projects in metro all over the world has failed!!!) remember, hyderabad, mumbai are all on BOT basis and i think they r all going to fail unless they change the style. I guess the best option is to believe what sreedharan says.

Posted On 8/31/2009 7:27:10 AM

Excellent piece - but I disagree on one aspect. If Sreedharan has immunity from CVC thats a good thing for he is then not bounded by Government's L1 system of tendering. Once again I request Mint to list as columnists at one place in a prominent manner. For us it becomes very difficult to find a particular column easily especially when the search function is not very accurate on the home page.

Posted On 8/31/2009 7:44:05 AM

In addition to the special conditions mentioned in the article, it should be noted that the bulk of the financing for the Delhi Metro came in the form of a low-interest loan from the Japanese Government. This "free" money gave the Delhi Metro a head start that cannot be replicated in every Indian infrastructure project. On the question of infrastructure finance the Delhi Metro remains the exception that proves the rule.

Posted On 8/31/2009 9:05:52 AM

In this article , it seems that only special concessions made DMRC successful and ignores the human element. Somewhat in narrowmindness the author is comparing with only Maytas and not with others like Mumbai Metro or even Kolkatta Metro. There seem to be an angle to defame Mr. Sreedharan. Let's not forget his earlier ventures such as the Konkan Railways. Special people perform much better under conducive conditions, other will perform ordinarily even in special conditions. That's the Human element, which we can see everyday! Shivadas POKKALATH, Mumbai

Posted On 8/31/2009 9:29:35 AM

This is an outstanding article which is perhaps the first to talk about DMRC in a balanced way. No one has yet had the courage to question the frailities of a national icon E.Sreedharan. However I think exemption obtained from government rules should be welcomed. The article is refreshing and deserves more prominence than it is at present.

Posted On 9/1/2009 7:10:29 AM