said, "They decided to take up the work on their own but had to depend on the DMRC for many things. I did not want Kochi to make the same mistake." On 3 January 2012, Oommen Chandi stated that E. Sreedharan would have final say on the metro project. Aryadan Mohammed, Minister for Power and Transport and the Vice Chairman of Existing Board of Directors, said that the Kerala Government had decided as early as in March 2010 that Sreedharan would be in charge of the project. "There are no doubts about this. It was the Kerala Cabinet which had taken this decision and there would be no change in it," he said. Some government ministers and IAS officials alleged that Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) norms do not allow awarding of a contract to an agency which did the consultancy for a project. However, DMRC principal adviser E. Sreedharan has stated that the CVC norms would not apply in this case, as the contract is between two government agencies. Another issue for the metro was that DMRC had to obtain the permission of its director's board to undertake projects outside Delhi. On 8 January 2013, following a high-level meeting attended by Oommen Chandy (then Chief Minister), Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, Union Minister K.V. Thomas, DMRC Principal Advisor E. Sreedharan, Union Urban Development Secretary Sudheer Krishna, Chief Secretary Jose Syriac, KMRL MD Elias George, DMRC MD Mangu Singh, Union Minister for Urban Development Kamal Nath officially confirmed that DMRC would undertake the work of Kochi Metro. Support for DMRC The Corporation of Cochin and Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany supported handing over work to DMRC..Chammany had stated that "Government of Kerala and the Corporation of Cochin along with the people of Kerala unanimously want the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to take up the work of Kochi metro which will be crucial to the growth and development of Cochin City." Opposition parties in the state, on several occasions, expressed support for the DMRC and alleged that corruption and delays would occur in the project if it was not handed to DMRC. JICA asked the KMRL to ensure the support of DMRC on 1 December 2012. Takeshi Fukayama of JICA said, "DMRC has an expertise in implementing the project and so, KMRL should take their support in executing the project. KMRL should use the expertise of DMRC for implementing the project."