HYDERABAD (Metro Rail News): The Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD), K.T. Rama Rao, criticized the central government for failing to provide financial support for the second phase of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project.
During the Question Hour at the Telangana Legislative Assembly, Rama Rao stated that the central government had ignored the state government’s requests for support for the extension of the metro rail on the BHEL-Lakdikapul and Nagole-L.B. Nagar stretches.
The second phase of the Metro Rail project includes two components: the 31-km Airport Express Metro from Raidurg Metro Station to Shamshabad Airport and the 26-km BHEL-Lakdikapul stretch as the 5 km gap between Nagole and L.B. Nagar.
The state government has received funding of ₹6,250 crores for the Airport Express Metro, a wholly state-owned project expected to be completed within three years.
The second component, estimated to cost ₹8,455 crores, has been submitted to the central government for approval as a joint venture between the centre and the state. Once approved, the project will take four years to complete, according to Rama Rao.
He added that the central government is questioning the viability of the Hyderabad project, despite granting 20% of the estimated cost and a sovereign guarantee for metro projects in cities such as Bengaluru and Chennai and smaller cities such as Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Prayagraj.
Rama Rao stated that the central government is treating Hyderabad with a “vengeful attitude.” In response to a supplementary question from the Congress party floor leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka about the higher fares than initially proposed, Rama Rao explained that the initial fares were proposed under the Municipal Tramways Act. Still, all metro rail projects in the country were brought under the Metro Railways Act. According to this act, the PPP concessionaire agency has the right to revise the fares.
