Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, Congress MP from Bhongir, appealed to the Union urban affairs ministry to expedite approvals for the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-II project.
Hyderabad: Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, Congress MP from Bhongir, appealed to the Union urban affairs ministry to expedite approvals for the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-II project.
Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday under Rule 377, Kiran Kumar Reddy highlighted that Hyderabad was a rapidly growing metropolitan city that significantly contributes to the country’s economic development. He pointed out that the city was struggling with increasing traffic congestion and pollution due to the sharp rise in private vehicles.
He said the state government submitted a proposal to the Centre seeking approval for Phase-II of the Hyderabad Metro in November 2024. The expansion aims to cover five new corridors totaling 76.4 kilometres at an estimated cost of `24,269 crore.
The funding model proposed includes a joint venture, where the Centre will contribute 18 per cent of the project cost or Rs 4,230 crore, the Telangana government Rs 7,313 crore or 30 per cent, loans will be raised for Rs 11,693 crore (48 per cent), and private partners under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode will bring in Rs 1,033 crore (four per cent).
He questioned why smaller cities like Agra, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Kanpur, Kochi, Lucknow, Meerut, Nagpur, Patna, Pune, Surat and Thiruvananthapuram have received joint venture approvals from Centre for Metro Rail projects, while Hyderabad, despite its size and importance, is still awaiting clearance.
The Bhongir MP also reminded the House that Hyderabad once had the second-largest metro network after New Delhi in 2010 but has since slipped to ninth place due to previous BRS government neglect between 2014 and 2024 He urged the Union urban affairs minister Manohar Lal Khattar to consider early clearance and approval of the Metro Phase-II proposal by forwarding it promptly to the relevant departments and agencies.
