L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited will commission phase one of a stretch of 8 km by March 2015.
Though this 8 km stretch of the 72-km elevated metro rail project will be ready by December 2014, it will begin operation after securing approval of Commissioner of Railway Safety.
This will be ‘Ugadi’ gift to people. Work on the project has gathered pace and first set of coaches from Korea will arrive next month.
V.B. Gadgil, Chief Executive and Managing Director of L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited, said, “The work has gathered pace. It could get better if we have right of way all through the metro stretch.”
The special purpose vehicle executing the project has thus far deployed Rs 750 crore on the Rs 16,000 crore project.
“We are closely tracking the impact of inflation of the implementation of the project. The cost of cement and steel has been going up along with labour rates,” he said.
Rails procured from Tata Steel (Corus), France are now being laid on tracks and metro coaches from Korea are set to arrive by August end. One such coach will be kept on display.
It is proposed to create a museum displaying various aspects and stages of metro development in the city. Even the coach will be on display. It will eventually be housed in the museum.
L&T metro will offer merchandise through an online shopping portal www.realshoppee.com.
MMTS
Meanwhile, a meeting of Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development S.K. Joshi and metro officials was held to review the progress of the project.
Tenders for finalisation of contractors to execute Multi Modal Transport System Phase-II, to complement the metro project and other modes of transport, is at advanced stage.
During the meeting, Joshi sought a detailed project report for phase-II works to assess the traffic potential.
rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in