HYDERABAD: While the HMRL has been recording a high footfall of over one lakh passengers instead of the 30,000 passengers when the metro services resumed initially, there is no clarity whether the state government will provide financial assistance to the L&T HMR, the private party. The private party has been incurring a loss of `300 cr every month for over seven months.
However, sources have hinted that the state government has refused to provide any kind of financial assistance. The Hyderabad Me t ro Rai l Lt d launched a new scheme on November 1 to attract more passengers during the festive season, as part of which it would provide 50 per cent cashback on the recharge of Metro Rail smart cards. However, sources from Hyderabad metro has hinted that the functioning of the metro services during the pandemic will be more efficient if the State government completely takes over the project instead of it being a PPP project.
A source from Hyderabad Metro said, “L&T HMR has approached the state government for financial help that was previously promised, however, the company has not received any positive communication yet and there is no clarity whether L&T will receive any financial help.” However, the Metro’s Phase II work seems to be continuing as per plan as General Secretary Somesh Kumar directed a team of senior officials including MA&UD, Principal Secretaries of Roads and Buildings, IT&C, Finance and HMRLMD to jointly inspect the proposed Metro Phase-II and 18 km EBRTS corridors. In addition, a comprehensive traffic and transportation plan will be developed for the Musi River Project and other important traffic corridors.