The state government has agreed to share the cost of the proposed extension of the Metro railway from Dumdum to Dakshineshwar via Baranagar. However, it has agreed to bear only one-third of the project cost. The railways had urged the state government to share half of the project cost. The local CPI-M MP for Dum Dum, Mr Amitabha Nandy, has been quite keen on the project, taking it up with the Union railway minister, Mr Lalu Prasad. The total estimated cost of the project has been pegged at Rs 537 crore. According to the state transport department, the cost of the six rakes would be borne by the railway ministry which would come to about Rs 180 crore. The rakes would have eight coaches each. Excluding the cost of the rakes, the total estimated cost of the project would come to Rs 357 crore. "We have agreed to pay one-third of the project cost although the railway board had asked us to share half of the project cost," the state transport secretary, Mr Sumantra Choudhuri, said. The state government has given the clearance for the extension project.