Telangana government Sunday decided to extend the Hyderabad Metro to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Shamshabad at an approximate cost of Rs 6,250 crore. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao will lay the foundation stone for the 31-km-long Airport Metro corridor on December 9.
Hyderabad Metro is the largest public-private partnership in metro rail across the world and, at present, the Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd (HMRL) and the L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd (LTMRHL) operate three corridors covering 69 km.
While the government is working on phase 2 of the project to cover a distance of 26 km from BHEL to Lakdikapul and connect the LB Nagar Metro station with Nagole Metro station, HMRL managing director N V S Reddy clarified that the Hyderabad Airport Metro Ltd will be fully state-owned.
“Hyderabad is Forging Ahead Happy to announce that Hon’ble CM KCR Garu will be laying the foundation for Airport Express Metro on 9th December This project starting at Mindspace junction to Shamshabad Airport will be 31 km long & will be costing approximately Rs 6,250 Cr,” state Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development K T Rama Rao shared Sunday on Twitter.
The minister added that the project will be completed in three years. On Phase-2 of HMRL, he added: “We have submitted DPR & are in discussions with Govt of India for additional 31 km city Metro expansion; BHEL to Lakdikapul -26 km & Nagole to LB Nagar – 5 km.”
A statement from the Chief Minister’s office said that the Airport Metro will connect Raidurg Metro station to RGIA via Biodiversity Junction, Kajaguda Road and Nanakramguda Junction to enter Outer Ring Road. “There is a dedicated Metro Rail Right of Way (RoW) on the ORR and the Airport Express Metro Corridor will be taken to Shamshabad International Airport through this dedicated RoW of ORR,” it said.
Barring a 2.5 km stretch near the airport, the corridor is slated to be elevated, like in the rest of the city. The map shared by the government suggests that the airport corridor would pass through Narsingi, TS Police Academy and Rajendranagar before reaching Shamshabad.
“Several big global and national companies have either set up or are setting up huge campuses along this stretch. A large number of commercial and residential high-rise buildings with world-class facilities are coming up within the vicinity of this corridor,” the statement said, adding that the state government hopes the Airport Metro will play a major role in the emergence of Hyderabad as an attractive global destination for investments.
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As part of phase 2 of the Hyderabad Metro, the government has already urged the Centre for in-principle approval for Miyapur and BHEL to Lakdikapul corridor, costing Rs 8,453 crore as a jointly owned project of the Government of India (GoI) and Government of Telangana State (GoTS) with external financial assistance.
In a letter addressed to Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri recently, Rao requested the inclusion of the said proposal in the upcoming Union Budget for 2023-24. The airport corridor will be part of the proposed phase-2 of the project.
Meanwhile, in a tweet, Hyderabad MP and AIMIM party supremo Asaduddin Owaisi requested minister Rao to “also start the work of MGBS, Imlibun to Falaknuma of Corridor II of 5.5 km” for which Rs 500 crore was allocated.
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