In a major booster for the expansion of the Kochi metro project, the state finance department has recently released a portion of funds required to widen Pettah-SN Junction stretch for Kochi Metro's Tripunithura extension and widening the Pettah-SN Junction road into a 22-metre-wide corridor. The inordinate delay in acquiring 2.20 acres of land for the extension had given rise to concern that the project may not get materialized as scheduled in the metro's first phase. The KMRL had forwarded all details to the department five months ago to enable Vyttila-Pettah-SN Junction widening work's execution as a package. The metro agency needs another Rs. 50cr for acquiring land for metro stations and parking at Alliance Junction and SN Junction. The KMRL already has over Rs. 300cr as savings to fund the metro's 1.50-km-long extension. But it needs funds for land acquisition for road widening and also for building metro stations.