Hyderabad Metro eyes two more lines by June

Buoyed by the commissioning of the 29-km stretch last month, Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd (HMRL) is working towards fully commissioning two stretches of the 72-km elevated metro project by June 2018.

The third stretch, connecting Old City minus the yet-to-be-finalised plan for a 6-km stretch beyond the Musi river, is scheduled to be completed by November 2019.

Outlining the way forward and the progress the project has made thus far, NVS Reddy, Managing Director of HMRL, said: “The government is simultaneously working on development of related infrastructure, including greenery along the metro network. Towards this, we are in the process of pitching for a ₹1,000-crore loan from German lending agency KFW. This may take a few months.”

So far, concessionaire L&T has invested over ₹14,261 crore in the project, while HMRL, on the government side, has put in about ₹2,250 crore, he further said.

The metro project cost at the time of contract was ₹14,132 crore, and included ₹1,458 crore as viability gap funding (VGF) from the centre. The rest of the funds came from L&T, which included debt from a clutch of banks. However, there is also a real estate component, including which L&T had closed financing for ₹16,500 crore, Reddy added.

HMRL had planned an outlay of ₹3,000 crore towards land purchase and acquisition of properties to provide right of way. Of this, ₹2,250 crore has been invested by the State. Of the ₹1,458-crore VGF, the Centre has to provide another ₹500 to L&T.

Asked about cost escalation, Reddy said the State government and L&T are discussing it. “We would have to take a look at the overall project progress and then finalise the amount as per the terms of the contract,” he added.

A 29-km stretch of metro rail was launched last month. Reddy said so far more than 32 lakh people have travelled on it, with about a lakh people on an average per day. The service can transport 10-15 lakh passengers a day.

On last mile connectivity, he said RTC, Ola and Uber are all playing a role. Ola is starting a bus service to the IT hub, Reddy said, adding that electric mobility services will soon be added.