Hyderabad, April 06: Larsen & Toubro, the concessionaire building the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project, has upped the estimated total cost to Rs.16,375 crore as against the government’s ‘frozen figure’ of Rs.12,132 crore, but has ruled out any hike in the tickets tariff (Rs.8 to Rs.19).
The government-fixed project cost during the bid was estimated in 2008 and since then, a lot of costs have increased such as cement, steel and other materials, as also interest rates, said L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited Chairman Y.M. Deosthalee to presspersons on Tuesday.
“The government limits to what they feel is right but we have to consider several issues to arrive at the cost,” he said, during a press conference to announce the financial closure by securing a huge fund tie-up of Rs.11,478 crore from a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) as debt component in a record six months.
“We have had to factor the Interest During Construction or IDC of Rs.1,941 crore but the Government of India (GoI) did not agree. Any cost hike is our problem but it’s in our interest to control the project cost,” he said. L&T has infused Rs.3,439 crore as equity. It will also be getting Rs.1,458 crore or 10 per cent of the project cost estimated by the GoI as Viability Gap Funding (VGF).
Hyderabad Metro Rail Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy said that the State would be spending Rs.1,980 crore for land acquisition, shifting of utilities, relief and rehabilitation, pedestrian facilities, etc.
The largest Public Private Partnership (PPP) project ever taken up will entail building the elevated rail system across three dense traffic corridors of 71.16 km — Line One L.B.Nagar to Miyapur, Line Two Jubilee Bus Station to Falaknuma, and Line Three Nagole to Shilparamam.
Integration with MMTS
It will be integrated with existing MMTS network at Bharatnagar, Begumpet, Khairatabad, Lakidikapul, Malakpet and Falaknuma; and bus stations of Miyapur, Dilsukhnagar, MGBS, JBS, Rathifile, Koti, and Falaknuma. L&T has the right to develop 18.5 million sq.ft of Transit Oriented Development (TOD), but Mr. Deosthalee and L&T Senior Vice-President K. Venkatesh pointed out that the concessionaire can only lease built-up space and “have no rights to sell.” “It’s not a real estate project. We cannot own any building. We will complete the metro rail construction before taking up real estate work. The PPP mode is innovative, transparent, and non-speculative,” they averred. L&T can develop real estate of air space of over 269 acres for depots at Nagole, Miyapur, and Falaknuma, as also parking and circulating areas at 25 stations.
According to the Concessionaire Agreement, L&T can run the metro for 35 years, including five years’ period for construction and extendable for another 25 years.
-Agencies