Hyd Metro Rail expansion held up by State Govt’s failures, not Centre’s: BJP

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The Telangana BJP on Wednesday advised Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to stop casting aspersions on the Centre to mask “administrative failures and lack of experience” in securing permissions for the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) expansion.

Party president N. Ramchander Rao said the Centre was not opposed to the expansion, but “delays in clearances stemmed from the State Government’s failure to provide clarity on key aspects such as operation and maintenance (O&M) and project management, particularly in relation to loan repayments” while taking over HMR Phase-I from L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH).

Addressing a press conference at the party’s state office, he alleged that the Congress government was “incapable” of properly proposing projects. The pre-feasibility report, financial feasibility report, and Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Metro expansion “have not yet been submitted,” and questioned how approvals could be granted in the absence of proper documentation.

Mr. Rao noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated HMR Phase-I and that the Centre had already granted “in-principle approval” for Phase-II. He dismissed as “completely false” the State Government’s charge that the Centre or Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy was “obstructing” the project by withholding technical approvals. Instead, he criticised the State for failing to act on the Centre’s advice to clarify technical and financial issues.

“It is ‘ludicrous’ that Mr. Revanth Reddy after having met the Prime Minister and Union Minister several times, is now seeking Mr. Kishan Reddy’s intervention to arrange further meetings,” he said and dismissed the allegations against Mr. Kishan Reddy as “political theatre”, alleging that the Chief Minister’s letter was intended to mislead the public and divert attention as his government lacked commitment to infrastructure development.

Highlighting infrastructure growth, the BJP leader said that Metro rail length in India had expanded from 248 km before 2014 to 1