Lucknow, Sep 10 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday appointed Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as its "interim consultant" for launching the Metro Rail project in the state capital, officials said.

The decision was taken at a state cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Both Rites and DMRC have been asked to submit proposals by sending them terms of reference, an official said and added that for the said work, Rites has submitted a proposal of Rs.19.5 crore excluding service tax while DMRC submitted a Rs.13 crore proposal excluding the tax.

"Since the DMRC proposal was financially lesser, the state cabinet approved it," the official told IANS.

DMRC, a joint venture of the railway ministry and the Delhi government, has been involved in the spadework for the Lucknow Metro Rail project and had earlier prepared a detailed project report (DPR) for it.

As interim consultants, DMRC would carry out an action plan to select a general consultant, prepare a detailed report on land acquisition for the project, prepare an environment impact assessment report and chalk out a a rehabilitation policy, carry out on-spot surveys for the underground rail lines among others.