In a first, the government has brought Japanese funding agency, JICA, on board to ensure that three-fourth of Metro rail coaches to be supplied by Japanese companies are manufactured in India. The Japanese firms can either set up their own plants here to produce the coaches or collaborate with the Indian firms. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will extend Rs 20,196 crore for the project. The agreement is being a positive signal for proposing similar arrangement for future Metro and other rail projects to push the ‘Make in India’ initiative. After several rounds of meeting between urban affairs secretary and Japanese ambassador, both sides agreed to push the manufacturing of rolling stock in India for the Chennai Metro project.