New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS): Work on the elevated Delhi monorail project will start in March and it will be commissioned in 2017, Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami said here Wednesday. The project will be integrated with Delhi Metro network.

"It is expected that the work will start in a couple of months and the corridor will be commissioned in early 2017 at an estimated cost of Rs.2,235 crore," Goswami said while visiting route alignment of the project.

He was accompanied by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) chief Mangu Singh and MP Sandeep Dikshit.

Talking to reporters, Dikshit said: "RITES Ltd. had carried out a techno-economic feasibility study and detailed project report (DPR) for this corridor whereas the DMRC has further reviewed the DPR and submitted its report to the government for implementation".

The first phase of the monorail will be introduced in east Delhi, which will be a 10.8 km stretch and have 12 stations. It will connect Shastri Park Metro and the proposed Trilokpuri Metro Station.

It is expected that initially, the monorail will have a daily ridership of around 1.5 lakh.

The route will start from Shastri Park, pass through Yamuna Pushta Road, Rajaram Kohli Marg, Geeta Colony, Patparganj Road, Nirman Vihar, Ganesh Nagar, New Patparganj Road and Sanjay Lake to terminate near Trilokpuri.