CM may decide on Hyderabad Metro operations today
HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to take a decision on Monday, as to how and when Metro rail services should resume in the city.
Unlock-4 guidelines, released on August 29 by the Ministry of Home Affairs, state that Metro services can be resumed in a phased manner. The Metro authorities, however, are awaiting the green signal from the Chief Minister before resuming services.
While HMRL MD NVS Reddy said that he cannot respond with regards to whether Metro services would resume, Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of Industries said, “While the guidelines have been provided, the head of each State has to decide whether the services should resume. We will be meeting the Chief Minister on Monday to discuss how and when we can resume Metro services.”
The Home Ministry has asked MDs of all Metros in states to prepare SOPs on how they will start functioning from September 7 onwards. The PPP project has incurred a loss of close to Rs 300 crore in the past five months.
Meanwhile, L&T HMR, the private partner of Hyderabad Metro, is waiting with bated breath to determine the future of their business in Hyderabad Metro. The company, like many other private players in metro projects, has been out of business for over five months, incurring a loss of at least Rs 45 crore every month, and will continue to do so if the services do not resume.
However, well-placed sources from L&T HMR said, “Even if the services resume, it will be months or years before the Metro could get back to pre-Covid business.” When asked if the government would be able to take up the entire responsibility of the Metro’s business, if L&T plans to back out like in Mumbai’s case, Ranjan said, “According to an existing clause in the MoU with L&T, we will be providing them all forms of subsidies and financial support to recover their earnings lost during the lockdown period.”