Today, July 5, 2012 has been declared as the ‘Appointed Date’ for the Hyderabad Metro Rail project jointly by the State government and the Concessionaire L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd (L&TMRHL). As per the Concession Agreement for the project, Appointed Date is crucial and the construction of the project will have to be completed within five years from this date.
Though financial closure for the project was achieved in the first week of March last year, L&TMRHL could not start the project works due to non-handing over of mainly 104 acres of depot land at Miyapur and certain other land parcels. On the assurance given by the government, L&T started construction activity from May this year, but the Appointed Date could not be declared as government was to fulfill certain conditions.
Now with the handing over of 244 acres, which is 91% of the required 269 acres, both the government and L&TMRHL have declared the Appointed Date. HMR MD N.V.S. Reddy and L&TMRHL MD V.B. Gadgil exchanged letters of Appointed Date declaration in the presence of Chief Secretary and HMR chairperson Minnie Mathew and Urban Development Principal Secretary B. Sam Bob in the chambers of the Chief Secretary today.
With this, the clock starts ticking for the project from this Appointed Date and the Concession Period of 35 years, including construction period of five years will be counted from this day. The government has assured L&TMRHL that the remaining 25 acres will be made available at an early date and Right of Way for continuous construction of rail track over the three Metro Rail corridors will be granted in a phased manner as per the construction program of L&TMRHL, without causing traffic problems for the road users during Metro Rail construction. The lending banks consisting of a consortium of ten nationalized banks led by State Bank of India, which agreed to lend Rs 11,478 crores to L&TMRHL will now start disbursing the loan amounts as per the terms of the Financial Closure.
Describing declaration of Appointed Date as an important milestone, Municipal Administration Minister M. Maheedhar Reddy has advised HMR and L&TMRHL to ensure completion of the project in less than five years so that the benefits of the project can be enjoyed by the people of Hyderabad from an early date.
Expressing happiness over this crucial development, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy directed the MDs of HMR and L&TMRHL to complete the entire project within four years by 2016 itself even though the Concession Agreement permits a construction schedule of five years. He also directed them to target the first stretch of 8km between Nagole and Mettuguda for opening by the end of December 2014.
———————– (NSS)