Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for Rs19,500-crore Mumbai Metro Rail Project on Wednesday. Work on the ambitious mass rapid transit system (MRTS) will begin in October 2006 and is scheduled to be completed by 2010.

The project, once completed, will ease traffic congestion in the metropolis. The Maharashtra government and private sector partner Reliance Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) will share the costs of the project. The private partner will hold a majority stake of 74 per cent in the project.

The Mumbai metro rail system, which will run partly on elevated tracks and partly underground, will drastically reduce travelling time in Mumbai and the suburbs. It would also address the rising air pollution problem in the city. This is the third such system in the country, after Calcutta and Delhi.

The Mumbai metro railway system will cover a total distance of 146km and link Mumbai city with its suburbs. The first phase will link Versova in the west to Ghatkopar in the east forming an 11km corridor with 12 new stations. The launching of the MRTS project is seen as a step towards making Mumbai a world-class financial hub.

The prime minister, who laid the stone for the project, was accompanied by state governor S M Krishna, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) chairman Anil Ambani and Mumbai Metropolitan commissioner T Chandrashekhar. Others present at the function included union ministers Sharad Pawar, Jaipal Reddy and Murli Deora and Ambani's mother Kokilaben Ambani.