Transport Dept. seeks details of foreign travel of Kochi Metro officials

The transport department and the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) are on a collision course, with the former seeking details of foreign trips taken by metro officials over the past five years without government permission and KMRL denying the allegations as baseless.

The details sought included the foreign travels of then Metro agency CEO Loknath Behera. KMRL officials claimed that the state government’s permission was not needed for the roads and that the agency had sought permission from the chairman of the union ministry of housing and urban affairs.

The department further requested the minutes of the KMRL board meetings that approved the foreign trips of the officials and their expenses mentioned in the audit reports. Details of the metro agency’s travel policy and the percentage of its budget allocated to foreign and domestic travel were sought.

KMRL sources said the agency responded to the letter from the ministry on August 28. In addition, the metro agency, which is a party to the tripartite agreement with the state and the Centre, functions under the guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission. According to the agreement, KMRL can take independent decisions, including foreign travel of its officials. Besides, the state government was informed about the trips, though this was for officials who were still in government service (Mr. Behera retired from the service of DGP Kerala), after which he was appointed as the managing director of KMRL. As for foreign trips of other officials of the metro agency, only the director general’s permission was needed, sources said.

They added that there was no compelling reason why we would have to seek permission from the government for any of the trips made in the past five years.

Published – 25 Sep 2026 07:00 IST