Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy issued an order on Wednesday directing officials to keep the ongoing Hyderabad Airport Metro Rail route alignment plan and its tender on hold and to quickly prepare alternative alignments aimed at achieving cost efficiency, as reported by The Indian Express.

The Chief Minister thoroughly reviewed the Metro rail expansion plans, examining the alignments along the ORR despite restrictions imposed by GO-111, which limited development opportunities. He stated that the ORR serves as a sufficient mode of transport.

The Telangana chief minister instructed officials to establish a new township on the extensive land acquired for Hyderabad Pharma City, a project initially planned by the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government.

Reddy, raising the question, asked senior officers for a thorough investigation into how L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited (LTMRHL) was given several benefits despite the incomplete status of the project in Hyderabad’s old city.

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In the meeting, Reddy highlighted that the Airport Metro should have gone through the Old City to serve more people. He asked officials to find cheaper options, considering routes like Mailardevpally, Jalpally, and P7 Road, or Barkas-Pahadi Shareef and Srisailam Road.

Expressing disappointment with the benefits given to L&T MRHL despite the unfinished 5.5-km stretch in the old city of Hyderabad, Reddy urged officials to carefully examine the concession agreements of LTMRHL and GMR Airport, as well as the supplementary concession agreement of the metro rail, to protect the government’s interests.

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Reddy stressed on the significance of well-rounded urban development by establishing satellite townships encircling the ORR. He highlighted the metro rail’s vital role in providing affordable and swift connectivity to these satellite communities.

Accordingly, he advised officials to blueprint an environmentally friendly mega township in Kandukur, leveraging the extensive land acquired for Pharma City by the government.

KCR’s Metro corridor plan

The previous government proposed a 31-km Airport Express Metro corridor from Raidurg Metro station in Madhapur to RGI Airport in Shamshabad via the Outer Ring Road (ORR). This project, valued at Rs 6,250 crore, was a joint effort involving Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL), Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), and Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC).

The groundwork for this initiative began in December 2022, focussing on alignment procedures and tender-related documentation, currently in progress.

Additionally, the former government chose to rescind GO-111, unlocking about 1.32 lakh acres across 84 villages for developmental purposes. Previously, GO-111 restricted significant constructions and industries within a 10-km radius around two historic Nizam-era water reservoirs, Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar, and their catchment areas on the city’s outskirts.