The UT Administration, in principle, has decided that the metro rail system in Chandigarh will be entirely underground. As regards the positioning of rail lines in Punjab and Haryana, the decision has been left to the states. Earlier, the administration had planned to run the metro underground only in the heritage area. Sources, meanwhile, maintained that the final decision regarding the metro rail will be taken only after the finalisation of the consultancy agency. The Centre had suggested a list of consultancy firms for the metro rail project such as Urban Mass Transit Company, RITES and Infrastructure Development Finance Company. Construction will be awarded to one of these companies after evaluation of their bids. Officials said the cost of constructing a kilometre of the underground Delhi metro rail line is Rs 280 crore. Officials said they are expecting this figure to go down substantially in the city as various financial institutes are contributing towards the project. The Ministry of Urban Development will incur 40 per cent of the total cost of construction. The rest will be divided among Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. Said Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar, "Many private financial firms want to pitch in for the metro project. So the cost of construction will go down because of the tough competition among these firms'. Meanwhile, the corridors for the metro are also tentative and officials said the final decision will be taken once the the consultancy firms are finalised.