Revanth Says Centre Blocked Telangana’s Metro Rail Purchase Plan
The Telangana CM said that the state bought L&T assets at half price and is ready to present metro details to Centre
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday accused the Centre of creating hurdles in the release of the ₹13,600-crore refinancing loan sanctioned by the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) to the state government for the takeover of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project.
Demanding clarity from the Centre on Hyderabad Metro Phase-II, the Chief Minister asked the BJP government to either facilitate the loan disbursement or issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) to allow the state government to independently execute Metro Rail expansion works.
Addressing a press conference at the Secretariat, Revanth Reddy said the IRFC was required to disburse the loan by June 15 in accordance with the MoU signed with the government, but had failed to do so. He alleged that Union minister G. Kishan Reddy had met urban affairs minister Manohar Lal Khattar on May 20 and railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on May 21 and exerted pressure on them to halt the loan disbursement for political reasons.
Revanth Reddy alleged that Kishan Reddy was creating obstacles at the behest of BRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao and its working president K.T. Rama Rao. He also alleged that the BJP and the BRS were acting in concert to stall the Metro Rail expansion and defame the Congress government.
Revanth Reddy said several proposed Metro Rail corridors would benefit constituencies represented by BJP MPs, including Secunderabad, Malkajgiri, Medak and Chevella, besides Assembly segments represented by BRS legislators in Greater Hyderabad limits.
“The Centre need not contribute the 50 per cent share. Give us the NOC to secure the IRFC loan to mobilise funds for Phase-II, and we will bear the entire cost of the project expansion,” Revanth Reddy said.
He asked the Centre to explain why Metro Rail projects in cities such as Ahmedabad and Visakhapatnam and other locations had received approvals while Hyderabad's expansion proposal remained pending.
Claiming that he had evidence supporting his allegations, the Chief Minister said the Centre had delayed the release of funds despite the state government fulfilling all conditions stipulated by the IRFC. He stated that Telangana had paid `1,400 crore as margin money and `84 crore as processing fee and submitted documents, including Reserve Bank of India approvals, required for the refinancing arrangement.
Revanth Reddy said the state government had secured the refinancing package at an interest rate of around four per cent through IRFC, backed by funding from a Japanese agency, compared to the existing loan burden of `13,600 crore raised by L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad at an interest rate of 8.25 per cent.
The refinancing, he said, would significantly reduce the Metro Rail project's debt servicing burden and save nearly ₹150 crore annually in interest payments.
The Chief Minister also questioned the pace of development of the Warangal airport project and said he had raised the issue with Union civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, seeking faster implementation.
The Chief Minister reiterated that there were no technical obstacles to the Metro loan disbursement and maintained that the delay was the result of a political conspiracy. He recalled that the state government had recently acquired 100 per cent shares of L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd through Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd (HMRL) after L&T expressed its inability to undertake Metro Phase-II because of mounting financial losses.
He said that L&T had created assets worth nearly ₹30,000 crore but continued to incur annual losses of about ₹400 crore. According to him, the state acquired Metro Rail assets worth around ₹30,000 crore for approximately ₹15,000 crore following consultations with the Centre.
Revanth Reddy said the refinancing agreement was signed on May 25 between L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd and HMRL in New Delhi to facilitate the takeover of Metro Phase-I by the state government. He maintained that the Japanese funding agency had already deposited the loan amount with IRFC and questioned why the funds had not been released.
Tracing the history of the Metro Rail project, Revanth Reddy said it was conceived during the Congress government led by Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and then Union urban development minister S. Jaipal Reddy in 2004. He alleged that delays after the formation of Telangana in 2014 and the previous BRS government's handling of the project resulted in a three-year setback till 2017, escalating project costs from an estimated ₹15,000 crore to nearly ₹22,000 crore and contributing to L&T's financial difficulties.
