Kuwait is likely to start work on its much-delayed $20 billion metro project soon, a report said.

The project will be built on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, said the Emirates 24/7 report. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2017.

The five-phase project, a joint public-private sector venture, will span more than 160 km and will be serviced by 61 stations.

Most obstacles delaying the start of the project have been cleared and it will be launched soon, the report quoted the Arabic language Al Anba newspaper as saying.

Six government departments located in the planned metro path had agreed to shift to other locations while the remaining institution -- the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research -- has been asked to move so construction work can begin, it said.

The report quoted sources as saying that Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah has asked the departments to "cooperate with the government to enable it to lay the foundation stone for the metro project."