`Metro rail project will help revive NGEF'

`Metro rail project will help revive NGEF'

The Hindu

`We have the technology to make electrical equipment needed'

# A lot of the equipment used by Kolkata Metro was made by NGEF workers: union president Shivashankar
# `The union supports the move to provide 27 acres of NGEF land for the Metro project'
# An underground rail should be planned for more stretches as on Mahakavi Kuvempu Road: Narendra Babu
# People are in the dark about the technical specifications of the Metro: Pramila Nesargi

Bangalore: The NGEF Employees' Union, which is seeking programmes to revive the public sector unit, has offered to make electrical motors and other equipment needed for Bangalore Metro.

Union president G.R. Shivashankar told presspersons on Tuesday: "We made a lot of the equipment used by Kolkata Metro and some of our former engineers are still working with them. We have the technology to make electrical equipment needed for Bangalore Metro and we can provide it at a low cost. This is better than sourcing equipment from elsewhere."

For commuters

Mr. Shivashankar said he supports the Metro, which could help the commuter avoid traffic snarls. Bangalore needs it.

The union, he said, supports the move to provide 27 acres of NGEF land for the Metro project, and even after the unit is revived there will be lands to spare.

"The NGEF has assets worth Rs. 2,000 crores and liabilities are only Rs. 400 crores," he said.

Opportunity

"The Metro and its need for electrical equipment have come as a good opportunity for the Government to think of reviving the industry. If it is to be a healthy unit, not an IAS officer but a technocrat should head it. Representatives of BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company) and the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board), which used our equipment, can be on the board of directors. We can supply electrical equipment to both utilities again,'' Mr. Shivashankar said.