Hyderabad:
Larsen & Toubro on Wednesday said it is committed to completing the Hyderabad Metro rail project expeditiously as per schedule with all support from the Telangana government.
After a meeting with Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited (LTMRHL) chief executive and managing director VB Gadgil said it was unfortunate that a section of the media chose to publish a letter written by him to the government in a manner which could be damaging for this very prestigious project.
Stating that the correspondence between the two parties is quite normal for a massive project of this nature, Mr Gadgil urged the media to show restraint on such selective disclosure without proper context.
He said the September 10 letter is a part of the long correspondence between L&T and the then government of Andhra Pradesh and now with government of Telangana.
"The progress so far is the fastest in the metro sector in the country in spite of various challenges met during execution," said a statement by LTMRHL.
Earlier, Telangana government officials said the project is on track and that L&T has not threatened to pull out.
Mr Gadgil's meeting with the chief secretary came after Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) managing director NVS Reddy called on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and the chief secretary.
HMR is a Telangana government agency while LTMRHL is a concessionaire developing 72-kilometre long elevated Metro project at a cost of Rs.14,132 crore.
Mr Reddy said the work on the project was continuing without any hurdle. He allayed apprehensions about the future of the project and said it would be completed according to the schedule. Communication between L&T and the government was continuing on a regular basis and he was responding to all letters, Mr Reddy added.
Information Technology Minister K. Tarakarama Rao said the chief minister would soon respond on the issue. The minister, who is the son of the chief minister, sees a conspiracy by the opposition to derail the project and to tarnish the image of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government.
Mr Gagdil in his letter sought clarity on the change of alignment proposed by the chief minister on two corridors. He said the work was stopped at two places for the last several weeks and this was causing a loss of Rs 2 crore a day.
LTMRHL said there is no official communication for change of alignment and the stoppage of the work was delaying the project.
Mr Gadgil earlier this month stated that the project is in a "very precarious mode". He said the project cost has escalated by Rs.2,500 crore to Rs.3,000 crore due to inflation, hike in interest rates and other factors.
The developer has so far spent Rs.5,000 crore on the project. It has completed 28 percent of the work.
The opposition Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) alleged that due to the pressure mounted by the chief minister, L&T was planning to pull out of the project.
Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir said the delay in the project will badly hit brand Hyderabad.
TDP leader Revant Reddy said if L&T pulls out of the project, this would affect investment coming to the city. He demanded an all-party meeting on the issue.