HYDERABAD: Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday said that the state government would not accept if the Hyderabad Metro Rail concessionaire L&T resorted to an unreasonable hike in ticket fares.
Speaking in the Assembly, Rao stated that the state government had conveyed its opinion to L&T that the fares should be in line with what is charged by the RTC and the government would not accept any steep hike.
Since Hyderabad Metro Rail was executed under the public-private partnership mode, the government was also a partner and any decision on the fares should be taken by consensus, he said.
Rao lashed out at the BJP-led Union government for not sanctioning funds for the second phase of Hyderabad Metro while making huge allocations to similar projects in Bengaluru, Chennai, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
"The Centre agreed to bear 20 per cent cost for the project in Bengaluru and Chennai besides facilitating sovereign loans of thousands of crores from foreign lending agencies like ADB and AFD. It was likewise in Gujarat and some cities in Uttar Pradesh, which are smaller than Hyderabad,” Rama Rao said.
“When we submitted proposals seeking funds and loans for the second phase of Hyderabad Metro, the Centre wanted to know the project’s feasibility. If a city like Hyderabad, which has a population of over one crore and is a global hub to IT and pharma, is not feasible, then how about those cities which the Centre is patronizing despite them being no match for Hyderabad."
Despite 'zero support' from the Centre, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had decided to execute the Airport Metro project with state funds, he said.
"Telangana government will complete the Airport Metro project in three years. When I sought an appointment with the Union urban development minister to request financial assistance for the second phase of Hyderabad Metro from Lakdikapul to BHEL and Nagole to LB Nagar, he ignored me. Later I sent HMRL managing director N.V.S. Reddy to Delhi, who met the urban development ministry’s secretary and submitted the detailed project report of the HMRL second phase, vetted by the Delhi Metro Corporation. Despite this, he raised feasibility doubts. This shows the BJP government’s discrimination against Telangana, as if it was in an enemy country," Rama Rao remarked amid slogans of “shame, shame” by ruling party members who pointing at the BJP legislators.
