New Delhi, Dec 7 (IANS): It was impossible for the central government to supervise the construction of metro rail projects in small cities, parliament was told Wednesday.

"Neither it is possible nor feasible for the central government to supervise the construction and monitoring of all the metro rail projects, particularly for the non- metropolitan cities," Minister of State for Planning Ashwani Kumar told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Kumar said Rs.3,303 crore has been allocated for various metro rail projects in the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012).

The minister said though a Rs.8,705 crore project has been prepared for the metro rail in Ludhiana city of Punjab by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), no proposal for approval has been received by the Planning Commission.

Regarding the metro rail for Kochi, Kumar said the Planning Commission has recommended a special purpose vehicle (SPV) by the state government for implementing the project.

For the DMRC, the Planning Commission has approved the extension of the Dehi Metro to Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and Gurgaon and Faridabad in Haryana, he said.