The Andhra Pradesh government today signed a concession agreement with L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail Private Limited for development of the Rs 12,132 crore Hyderabad Metro Rail Project under the Public-Private Partnership initiative.
This would be the first project with a single largest investment in Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister K Rosaiah said, as state Principal Secretary (Municipal Administration) T S Appa Rao and L&T HMR managing director V B Gadgil signed the agreement this evening.
The Andhra Pradesh government awarded the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project to Larsen and Toubro Limited on August 4, after the $9.8 billion engineering and construction company emerged as the lowest bidder, seeking only Rs 1,458 crore as Viability Gap Funding.
The VGF amount would be released by the Government of India, while the AP government would spend Rs 1,980 crore towards acquisition of 204 acres of land at two places in Hyderabad as well as relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.
L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail Private Limited is the Special Purpose Vehicle formed by L&T for executing the project on a design, finance, build, operate and transfer basis under the PPP model.
Noting that it was a "high priority" project for the state government, the Chief Minister said it would be a jewel not only for Hyderabad but also the country.
Bengaluru suffered a setback because of the traffic chaos in the city. There is traffic chaos in Hyderabad too what with the addition of lakhs of vehicles every year.
But with a forward-looking plan, we have laid emphasis on improving public transport systems as Hyderabad is set to grow much higher in the next five years, Rosaiah pointed out.
Promising the government’s full support to L&T in executing the project as per schedule, the Chief Minister appealed to the citizens of Hyderabad to co-operate even though they would have to face some hardships during the execution stage.
"With the available advanced technologies, we can build the Metro Rail as a model for others," he added.
The state government would release Rs 500 crore as the first installment in the current financial year for acquiring required land for the project, Minister for Municipal Administration Aanam Ramanarayana Reddy said.
Meanwhile, official sources said L&T would provide bank guarantee for Rs 360 crore as performance security and achieve financial closure in six months.
Ground works for the project were scheduled to commence in January 2011. The project would be completed in five years, covering three high-density traffic corridors over a 71-km route.
