Bangalore: Union Urban Development Minister Ananth Kumar on April 18 said that the Bangalore Metro rail project would take off in November this year.

"Very much. It (the work on Bangalore Metro) can be started in November," Kumar told reporters after inspecting the coaches for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation being assembled at Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML).

Kumar said a meeting has been called to discuss the project in the next 10 to 15 days in Bangalore, which is to be attended by Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna, Union Urban Development Secretary N M Khanna, Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan and state officials.

"The meeting will take the project to the next phase when the Centre and Karnataka will sign a memorandum of understanding for the project," he said.

Kumar, who represents Bangalore South in Lok Sabha, said the Centre was taking up Bangalore Metro work on "war-footing".

He said the metro rail project will also be introduced in Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

"There are 35 cities in the country which has over 10 lakh population. In future, these cities need urban transport system and it will have metros," Kumar said.

He said the government was considering to approach the Japanese Bank of International Co-operation for financing the Rs 4,000 crore Bangalore Metro project.

PTI