The Sri Lankan government has invited the officials of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to study the feasibility of building a mass rapid transit system in Colombo.

E Sreedharan, managing director of DMRC, told reporters in Kochi that he would visit Colombo in next few days to evaluate the possibility of constructing a metro rail there.

The way the Delhi metro project was being executed had received worldwide attention, he said.

A group of Sri Lankans visited Delhi a month ago to study the metro rail system and invited DMRC officials to Colombo to prepare a project report for a similar venture there.

The Delhi metro rail project was expected to be completed by 2021 in four phases, Sreedharan said. The first phase, costing Rs 10,500 crore (Rs 105 billion) and covering a length of 70 km, will be completed by September 2005.

There were plans to commence preliminary work of the second phase, which is estimated to cost about Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion), as early as possible, he said. This phase is expected to be completed by 2009.

Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu governments have expressed interest in the project, he said, adding that plans were also on for metro systems in Mumbai and Ahmedabad.