KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian company said on Tuesday it has been awarded a 522 million dollar contract (S$823 million) to build India's first monorail, a 19.5-kilometre system in the financial capital Mumbai.

Scomi Engineering said that together with its partner Larsen and Toubro Ltd India, it will build the monorail which will run from the west side of the city and head northeast.

It said the design, development, construction, manufacturing, supply, testing and commissioning of the system will be completed within 30 months at a cost of 1.846 billion ringgit.

The line will feature 18 stations and a central operations depot, and a fleet of 15 trains consisting of four air-conditioned cars each.

'This will be the first monorail system in India and is expected to ease the congestion in the highly crowded Jacob Circle, Wadala and Chembur area,' it said in a statement.

Scomi said the track would connect with the existing suburban railway and forthcoming Metro Rail. -- AFP