PMO has not yet confirmed Modi for Metro inaugural

THE STATE government was hopeful that the Prime Minister, who will be in the city for the summit, would inaugurate the Metro Rail on November 28.

The Prime Minister’s Office was still to confirm that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would inaugurate the Hyderabad Metro Rail project, minister K.T. Rama Rao told the Assembly on Monday.

Replying to members in the Assembly during Question Hour, Mr Rao said Metro Rail will would be ready for inauguration in time for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit that runs from November 28 and 30.

The state government was hopeful that Mr Modi, who will be in the city for the summit, would inaugurate the Metro Rail on November 28.

He said the government was keen on Mr Modi inaugurating the Metro Rail because it was the world’s largest project in private public parternship mode and was executed by an Indian multinational company, L&T.

Mr Rao said that when it is inaugurated, HMR will create a record by opening a 30-km stretch. No the largest inaugural stretch of the Metro Rail in the country was 11 km.

“Opposition parties are criticising the government for delaying the Metro Rail launch. They should realise that it was done to provide an end-to-end solution to passengers,” he said.

“The eight-km stretch between Nagole and Mettuguda and 12-km stretch from Miyapur to SR Nagar were ready last year. Had we started them, and people not preferred to travel by Metro Rail without end-to-end connectivity from Nagole to Miyapur, they would have dubbed Metro Rail a failure,” Mr Rama Rao said.

“For this reason, the CM asked us to launch it only after providing end-to-end connectivity. We could have launched Metro if we had the intention to gain publicity like governments in other states but it would not serve the actual purpose of Metro Rail," the minister stated.