Union Minister G Kishan Reddy accused the Telangana govt of stalling the Hyderabad Metro Phase-2 project over financial disagreements. CM Revanth Reddy hit back, alleging the Centre is blocking the project's NOC and discriminating against the state.
Kishan Reddy Blames State Govt for Delay
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday hit back at Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy over the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-2 issue, saying the project has stalled due to financial disagreements and lack of commitment from the state government. He said the Centre has only given policy suggestions on how metro revenue should be used, while accusing the Telangana government of mishandling finances and spreading "false propaganda" against him.
Speaking to the reporters, Reddy said, "For the second phase of Telangana metro, first the KCR government, now the Congress Party government, are not committed to the project. The DPR, along with the technical and financial feasibility project report, has not yet been completed. The central government, specifically the Urban Development Ministry, has suggested that all the money generated through ticket sales and advertisements should be used primarily for metro operations and maintenance. Allotment should be made. After that, a decision should be made to repay the loan using the remaining revenue."
Union Minister continued, "This is the suggestion of the Government of India's Urban Development Ministry. However, the Telangana government has decided to use all the money generated through ticket sales and advertisements to first repay the loans. This creates a problem in operational maintenance. Even for operational maintenance, you have to take out a loan every month."
Reddy said Telangana government should reassess this issue and make changes to the financial enclosure. "This is the reason why the project has stalled. Revanth Reddy is spreading false propaganda. Revanth Reddy, please stop making false accusations and spreading false propaganda against me. You should serve the people properly," he further added.
CM Revanth Reddy Accuses Centre of Blocking Project
A day earlier, Telangana chief minister Reddy said the Telangana government is ready to fully fund the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-2 project with 100 per cent equity and urged the Centre to immediately issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to facilitate the expansion.
Addressing a press conference, the CM said that he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union ministers Manohar Lal Khattar and Ashwini Vaishnaw for several times on May 20 and 21 also ) and urged them to sanction the metro rail expansion project, which was already delayed for years. CM Reddy mentioned that the "Centre agreed to sanction the Metro Rail phase 2 project with a 50 per cent share of each state and Union Governments after the contract agency L&T company took a back seat. On the advice of the centre, the state government took full control of the Metro Rail. L&T did not agree to the proposal of Metro Rail expansion in view of mounting losses in the first phase project."
The Chief Minister questioned the centre for not permitting the transfer of loans from IRFC to the state government. "We have already paid ₹1,400 crore dues from us. We also submitted a letter confirming the Reserve Bank's approval, yet the loan transfer was blocked".
The Chief Minister said that the funds are due for release today and demanded that Union Minister G Kishan Reddy take the responsibility of releasing funds to the state government from the IRFC (Indian Railways Finance Corporation) immediately. The State Government is ready to bear the entire cost of the execution of the metro rail expansion project. The centre should issue NOC. The Metro Rail expansion project covered the jurisdiction of four BJP MPs, including Kishan Reddy's Lok Sabha segments, he said.
The CM pointed out that the Centre had approved Rs 3,15,000 crore loans through PFC and RFC without any guarantee during the KCR rule. The loans were provided at the huge interest rate of 9 per cent to 15 per cent. The CM slammed the Union government for not approving the Metro Rail expansion project.
The Chief Minister alleged that the centre discriminated against Telangana and approved only the metro rail projects in Ahmedabad, UP and Vizag recently. (ANI)
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