Hyderabad: The state govt on Wednesday took over phase I of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project and operations from Larsen and Toubro (L&T). This will set the stage for the Telangana govt’s ambitious plan to expand the metro rail network towards Shamshabad, Bharat Future City and other parts of the state capital under a joint venture between state and the Centre.The state govt acquired 100% of the shares held by L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd (LTMRHL) for an equity value of Rs 1,461.47 crore. “Evaluation of the projects of this magnitude would cost over Rs 25,000 crore. But the state negotiated a good deal,” said an official.The share purchase agreement was executed with Larsen & Toubro Ltd and LTMRHL. The agreement was signed by MD Sarfaraz Ahmed on behalf of HMRL, DK Sen on behalf of L&T Ltd, and KVB Reddy on behalf of LTMRHL.The debt of LTMRHL amounting to Rs 13,538.53 crore as on April 30, which was earlier guaranteed by L&T, will now be refinanced with a guarantee issued by the Telangana govt. The equity value of Rs 1,461.47 crore and the debt Rs 13,538.53 crore takes the total take over value of the project to Rs 15,000 crore.“We are in talks to get the loan at a lesser rate of interest. Also, we are awaiting the phase II approvals from the Centre,” a senior official told TOI. The Centre insisted on a definitive agreement for operational integration between phase 1 and 2 before approving further expansion, making the takeover necessary.”The takeover will now facilitate the expansion of phase 2 over 162 km. The phase I network is 69 km. Proposals for the expansion of phase 2, covering 76.4 km initially, and another 86.1 km later, have been submitted to the Centre.Chief minister A Revanth Reddy said the state govt took over the metro rail in view of the broader public interest, and in response to increasing demands from various sections of society to extend the network to the Hyderabad Core Urban Region (CURE). Since the inception of the metro rail, approximately 86 crore passenger journeys have been recorded by the service.
