Telangana Government and the Hyderabad Metro Concessionaire L&T are currently riding a hungry tiger which is the project itself. The project which first started with a value of Rs 12,134 crore while the bidding was called in July 2010 escalated to 14132 Crore by the time the agreement was signed in 2011. The project was India’s first Metro rail project on Public Private Partnership. Several L&T Top Brass even today say they knew that project commerce is a huge gamble and would collapse if the real estate values do not escalate. However with the state bifurcation, L&T do not see a growth in Hyderabad Real Estate as much as they would like.
Adding to that there are inordinant delays from the government is creating the right of way (ROW) which means government agencies clear land (and traffic) around the project corridor to enable smooth execution. However the governments since Kiran Kumar Reddy did not act swiftly due to the heavy protests from those who are to lose land (especially traders in busy established market places and residents who have lived in the area for ages).
Kiran Kumar Reddy never tried to bite the bullet and now its up to the KCR government. The irony is that KCR fought for those losing their lands for the Metro during the agitation days, he can not stop bothering about them and at the same time, creating hurdles for the project will mean that KCR is digging a grave for Hyderabad Brand Value. However delay further escalates this problem as the project cost increases by 2 Crore for every day wasted with out action.
