Telangana minister KTR seeks Centre’s nod for BHEL-Lakdikapul Metro project

The Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) currently operates three corridors covering 69 km and is the largest public-private partnership metro rail project in the world. Under Phase-1, the HMRL has been operating L B Nagar to Miyapur, Nagole to Raidurgam, and JBS to MGBS corridors for the last five years. The stretch between MGBS to Falaknuma has not materialised, mainly due to objections to property acquisition and route alignment issues. The proposed Phase-2 project routes include BHEL to Lakdikapul, a 26 km route that has so far been away from the rest of the three corridors.

The minister sought to meet with the Union minister to explain the project. “To avoid delays in processing, Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of the project (as prepared by DMRC) and other related documents were sent to GoI by the Telangana Government on October 27, 2022,” the minister added. Further, he noted that Hyderabad was the fastest-growing metropolitan city in terms of quarterly and year-on-year growth of the real estate sector, especially since 2019-20. With the opening up of all the offices in the post-Covid scenario, the need for expansion and strengthening of the public transportation system needs no emphasis, he added.

Owing to unprecedented losses the HMRL incurred during the Covid pandemic, the Telangana government had set up a committee to make recommendations on how to bail out HMRL. The organisation reported losses to the tune of Rs 1,700 crore.

In the 2022-23 state budget, the government allocated Rs 500 crore to HMRL to take up works on the long-pending 5.5 km stretch connecting MGBS-Imlibun to Falaknuma on Corridor-II in the financial year 2022-23. In the same budget, the HMRL was allocated Rs 2377.35 crore for various developmental works to be taken up during the year. This included Rs 500 crore for the extension of metro connectivity to the Old City and Rs 377 crore for connectivity to the international airport at Shamshabad.