12.6.08

Hyderabad Metro Update

TheAndhra Pradesh government will promulgate an ordinance to take up metro rail projects in the municipal areas of the state either as government project or as public-private partnership projects and to ensure smooth implementation of the project. Information minister A Ramnarayan Reddy said it was imperative that the AP Municipal Tramways Act is enacted in order to to give a legal cover for this project. The ordinance will also help the state government to regulate the construction and operation of mass transit systems, the functions of the developers and operators, safety certification mechanism, claims compensation mechanism, penalties for various offences, etc. He said the Act was prepared by a team of legal experts and Supreme Court advocates on the basis of inputs given by technical experts after studying the West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Delhi metro operation and maintenance act.
The financial bids for the project are due on July 4, the minister said. Five international consortia Essar constructions, Magna Allmore, Reliance Energy, GVK and Navabharat have been pre-qualified. The project is estimated to cost Rs 9,696 crore on three busy traffic corridors spanning over 71 kms to provide sustainable mass transport solution. The Centre will fund 20 per cent of the cost of the project. It has already sanctioned Rs 2000 crore and has agreed to give additional 10 per cent soon. There will be three rail routes, Miyapur to L B Nagar with 27 stations, JBS to Falaknuma with 16 stations and Nagole to Shilparamam with 23 stations.

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