NEW DELHI: Companies from Malaysia and Japan have shown interest in participating in Delhi's monorail project, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said.

However, work on the project would not begin this year, she said, adding that the government would not take up the project in a hurry before the Assembly polls, scheduled for later this year.

The work on the monorail project -- on an 11km stretch from Shastri Park Metro station to Trilokpuri -— is estimated to cost Rs2,235 crore (about RM1.2 billion). It is expected to start this year and be completed by 2017.

"We are in no hurry to implement the monorail project and would not be taking it up before the code of conduct is implemented," The Indian Express quoted Dikshit as saying.

According to the report, the detailed project report, showing the alignment of the corridor in East Delhi, is yet to be presented to the Chief Minister.

It also quoted sources as saying that the monorail project file is currently pending with the finance department.

"The file was sent to the finance department for clearance. There were some issues relating to the finance model that should be adopted. We are also considering the build-operate-transfer model for this project," a senior government official said.-- Bernama