Thiruvananthapuram : Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Kerala Monorail Corporation have inked a general consultancy agreement for monorail projects in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode. Together, the projects would cost about R5,581 crore in the first phase. The pact was signed in the state assembly complex in the presence of chief minister Oommen Chandy, his cabinet colleagues, speaker G Karthikeyan and prinicipal adviser to the Delhi Metro E Sreedharan. The DMRC will be responsible for design, preparation of bid documents, short-listing and selection of contractors, supervision & quality certification for the monorail projects. The elevated mass rapid transport system will run 22.2 km from Technocity to Karamana in Thiruvananthapuram and 14.2 km from Government Medical College to Meenchantha in Kozhikode. A single consultancy agreement would suffice, since the players are the same,” said state works minister VK Ebrahim Kunju. DMRC will get 3.25% of the R3,590 crore set aside for the Thiruvananthapuram Monorail and R1,991 crore for the Kozhikode Monorail. Tender procedures would be rolled out soon. No time lag is expected since the usual problem of land acquision is not huge,” he said.