Patna, May 5 (IANS): The Bihar capital city's dream of a Metro train may come true by 2016 if the state urban development minister is to be believed. The project is set to cover a distance of 40-km stretch at a cost of Rs.8,000 crore, he said.

Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) will conduct survey for the construction of the Metro rail in Patna, Urban Development Minister Prem Kumar said Sunday.

"The government has decided to hand over the survey work for a Metro rail in Patna to RITES. We have targeted to run the Metro rail from 2016 on, in at least one part of Patna," Prem Kumar told IANS here.

The project is expected to cover a distance of 40 km stretch in the city and would be built at a cost of Rs.8,000 crore, he said.

The minister said the urban development department has approved this proposal and after a formal approval of the state cabinet, the RITES will start a technical and an economic survey for the construction of the Metro rail in Patna.

The government hopes the survey would be completed in four months and the work will start finally in 2014.

Prem Kumar admitted that the construction of the Metro rail in Patna was delayed. "Now, we will speed up work without any further delay," he said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is keen to give Patna a Metro rail.