Hyderabad Metro project flagged off; first phase to be completed by end-2015
“Carriage fee is now a well-regulated issue and it should be transparent. We will intervene if required but we won’t relook at the recommendations,” he said in an interview to NDTV.
The Hyderabad Metro Rail Project was flagged off on Tuesday and the first phase is likely to be completed in around three years.
"We are supposed to complete (the project) in five years. But presently we are thinking of commissioning it phase by phase...Our endeavour will be to complete the first phase, which we have taken up between Nagole and Mettuguda, in about three to three-and-half years," V.B. Gadgil, chief executive and managing director, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad), said.
The project was first awarded to another infrastructure firm but the agreement had to be scrapped in 2009. It subsequently witnessed some protests over alleged demolition of some heritage buildings.
The financial closure for the project was done in March 2011 and the concession agreement was signed by the special purpose vehicle, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited, with the government of Andhra Pradesh on September 4, 2010.
The project is one of the world's largest PPP projects in the Metro sector. It involves the construction of 71.16 km of elevated Metro rail in three corridors, with 65 stations.