HYDERABAD (Metro Rail News): The proposed high-speed metro rail to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad from Raidurg/Mindspace junction will be essentially an elevated one but will also have a 2.5-km underground section to connect to the airport terminal.
According to Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy, Hyderabad Airport Metro Rail (HAML), the government’s special purpose vehicle formed to build the 31-km ‘Airport Express Metro Corridor’ with 27-km elevated and another 1 km on ground, is looking at ‘innovative financing model’ to make the project financially viable.
The project estimated to cost up to ₹ 5,000 crores is awaiting the government’s nod to call for financial and technical bids. It will essentially be a government-funded and owned metro unlike the ongoing Hyderabad Metro Rail project, which is under the public, private, partnership (PPP) model, with L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad building and maintaining the phase one.
He explained, that the private sector will be involved extensively for optimizing of costs for Airport Metro. “We have the option of seeking the Central government’s financial assistance available for up to 10% of the total cost which will come with its own rules and regulations or we can take up the entire work on our own.
