out the way forward, obtaining advice and guidance from former DMRC Chief, E Sreedharan. We aim to complete the project within a span of 3 to 4 years." On 14 August 2012, the state government reconstituted the Board of Directors of KMRL. Power Secretary Elias George was appointed as the new Managing Director, replacing Tom Jose. It is believed that Jose's differences with Sreedharan led to the decision. The then Chief Minister Oommen Chandi stated that it was part of an administrative decision. The rest of the board would include the Chief Secretary, Finance Secretary and Principal Secretary (Water Resources). The Director Board of Kochi Metro Rail Limited entrusted MD, KMRL to find alternate funding options for the project as advised by DEA (Department of Economic Affairs). As part of it, representatives of the French Development Agency (AFD) met the KMRL team as part of their pre-appraisal mission on 18–19 March 2013. The agency had detailed discussions with KMRL MD Elias George and other senior officials. They also visited the project alignment from Aluva to Pettah to understand the project better. Mme. Aude Flogny, Regional Director, South Asia & Mr. Gautier Kohler, Project Coordinator India were there in the team. Based on the inputs received from the pre-appraisal mission team of AFD, a formal detailed- appraisal mission team visited Kochi from 25 to 27 April 2013. The team included Senior Transport Expert of AFD, Mr. Xavier Hoang; AFD regional director for South Asia, Aude Flogny and Project Coordinator, Gautier Kohler. The team inspected the project site and held discussions relating to the funding for Kochi Metro Rail project. Kochi Metro Rail Limited is hoping to get a final commitment from the French financial agency AFD - Agence Française de Développement by the end of December 2013. AFD has stated that they could provide a loan of up to 130 million Euros which is around Rs. 10 billion. On 4 April 2013, KMRL's Director Board signed a contract with the DMRC. The 22 proposed stations for the Kochi Metro were approved by the State Cabinet on 19 June 2013. Controversy over DMRC's role In December 2011, Kerala Minister for Public Works V.K. Ebrahim Kunju announced that the work would be offered by global tender. DMRC MD E. Sreedharan said he would not be interested in participating unless the DMRC was involved. Citing the examples of metros in Bangalore and Chennai, he