Hyderabad: One month after its launch, the Hyderabad Metro Rail project is still stabilizing in its first phase of operation, but the administration is already preparing funds for further development. The administration is near an agreement with the German development bank KfW for a loan of Rs 1,000 crore for urban rejuvenation along with the rail metro project. “We are in talks with the German Development Bank KfW to raise around Rs. 1,000 crore for the urban rejuvenation project, without a high interest burden, say less than 2%, and a long repayment period.”, NVS Reddy said.
The initial negotiations have been completed and it is expected that a detailed project report (DPR) will be ready soon. The funds will be used for urban rejuvenation activities, including the installation of sidewalks, rails, FOB and other services after the construction of the subway, Reddy added.
Media had previously reported that talks were also held with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) seeking official development assistance (ODA) for its second expansion phase for another 100 km. The initial phase of the 72 km elevated metro project, 30 km long stretch with 24 stations, was launched on November 28, 2017. It is expected that the remaining stretch of the project will start at the end of next year.
Being the largest metro rail project under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, Hyderabad Metro expects to reach break-even in 2022. “Of the 250 meter rail projects in the world, only four are making money. Hong Kong, Tokyo and Taipei, while 50% of revenues come from passenger tickets, 45% from real estate development and 5% from advertisements and others, “said Reddy.
“It’s too early to say about traffic, passenger figures are growing slowly and we expect it to stabilize in the next two months, on average, a lakh of passengers travel every day and we expect to reach a break-even point after five years when The whole stretch is completed”, He added. The data indicate that about 32.25 lakh passengers have been transported by Hyderabad Metro and more than 1.5 lakh of smart cards have been issued to date.
“The smaller stations, which are in high-density areas, are seeing minimal crowds, which means that the metro rail is not preferred for short-haul trips, and some central stretches are still to be completed where there are a lot of people, “said one observer.
For starters, some observers say that the rates have to be lower than the current ones. L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (LTMRHL) said rates will start from a minimum of 10 rupees for a distance of up to two kilometers and the maximum fare is `60 for a distance of more than 26 km.
HMRL also has to fill many deficiencies, such as the construction of parking areas, toilets, drinking water and other facilities to gather people, according to one observer. Technical problems such as defective doors, signal problems and maintenance problems have caused delays in your daily services, even up to 20 minutes, sometimes.
Apparently, train schedules are not published regularly and a timetable has not yet been published. Larsen & Toubro received the Hyderabad Metro Rail project from the government of Andhra Pradesh. LTMRHL, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), was formed to implement the project based on design, construction, operation and transfer of financing (DBFOT). The company signed the concession agreement with the former government of Andhra Pradesh in 2010 and completed the financial closure for the project in 2011.
A consortium of 10 banks led by the State Bank of India has sanctioned the total debt requirement for the project. This is the largest bond fund in India for a non-energy infrastructure PPP project. The cost of the project at the time of signing the dealership contract in 2010 was Rs 14,132 crore. Around Rs 16,511 crore have been spent so far on LTMRHL projects and the Telangana government. On average, `60 million rupees was spent per station and Rs 250 million per exchange station.
