Telangana denies L&T pulling out of Hyderabad Metro project

Opposition had alleged the company was pulling out due to pressure mounted by the CM

The Telangana government has denied that infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro is pulling out of Hyderabad Metro rail project.

Officials said the project is on track and that L&T has not threatened to pull out.

Amid reports that L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd (LTMRHL) wrote a letter to the government that it is incurring a daily loss of Rs 2 crore as the work has been stopped on two corridors, Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) managing director N V S Reddy Wednesday met Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma.

HMR is a Telangana government agency while LTMRHL is a concessionaire developing 72-km long elevated Metro project at a cost of Rs 14,132 crore.

Reddy said the work on the project was continuing without any hurdle. He allayed apprehensions about the future of the project and said it would be completed according to the schedule.

He said the communication between L&T and the government was continuing on a regular basis and he was responding to all letters.

Information Technology Minister K Tarakarama Rao said the chief minister would soon respond on the issue. 

LTMRHL chief executive and managing director V Gadgil, in a reported letter to the chief secretary, sought clarity on the change of alignment proposed by the chief minister on two corridors. He said the work was stopped at two places for last several weeks and this was causing a loss of Rs 2 crore a day.

LTMRHL said there is no official communication for change of alignment and the stoppage of the work was delaying the project.

Gadgil earlier this month stated that the project is in a "very precarious mode", adding that the project cost has escalated from Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 3,000 crore due to inflation, hike in interest rates and other factors.

The developer has so far spent Rs 5,000 crore on the project. It has completed 28% of the work.

Opposition Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) alleged that due to the pressure mounted by the chief minister, L&T was planning to pull out of the project.

Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir said the delay in the project will badly hit brand Hyderabad.

TDP leader Revant Reddy said if L&T pulls out of the project, this would affect investment coming to the city. He demanded an all-party meet on the issue.