L&T to develop commercial space with Hyderabad Metro

L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited (LTMRHL) plans to develop six million square feet of real estate at a cost of about Rs.2,300 crore under the first phase as part of Metro rail project, which is expected to be commissioned in July 2017.

Of this 1.1 million square feet of retail and office space is under construction and will be ready next year, announced LTMRHL chief executive and managing director V.B. Gadgil.

Gadgil said 40 percent of the commercial space under development has already been booked.

The construction major, which is building 71.16 km elevated Metro rail in public-private partnership, has already achieved financial closure for the first phase of Transit Oriented Development (TOD), which is scheduled to be completed with the commissioning of the Metro.

L&T also plans to take up development of 12.5 million sq.ft. of space over next 10 years. This may require more than Rs.5,000 crore. "We will raise this money from our internal accruals or borrowings," Gadgil told reporters.

This will take the overall investment by the L&T in the integrated project to over Rs.20,000 crore.

In 2011, LTMRHL achieved financial closure for Rs.16,375 crore - Rs.14,132 crore for Metro rail system and Rs.2,243 crore for first phase of Transit Oriented Development (TOD).

The TOD is being taken up at multiple locations, including the land parcels given by the state government, Metro stations and depots.

Unveiling 'Hyderabad Next', the brand of TOD, Gadgil said it would offer office space, retail, hospitality, healthcare and mixed use.

By providing ample parking, work, shopping, leisure, entertainment and healthcare, the construction major promises to improve the quality and standard of living in Hyderabad.

"Hyderabad Metro rail will uniquely cater to the needs of commuters as well as the non-commuters of its adjoining/adjacent neighbourhoods due to its design as a foot over bridge, coupled with unique total retail space of about 0.45 million sq.ft. on all 64 stations," he said.

Dominos, Politos, Medplus and Amul are among the brands which have already booked the space. State Bank of India (SBI) will have one ATM at each station while Bank of Baroda and Corporation Bank will have their ATMs at 20 stations each.

When fully commissioned, the developer expects 45-50 percent revenue from fare collection, 40 percent from TOD and 10 percent from advertisements.