Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president, K.T. Rama Rao (KTR), has expressed his frustration with the BJP-led NDA government for not allocating funds for the Hyderabad Metro Rail expansion in Budget 2024.
In a pointed post on X, KTR questioned the value of Telangana's support for the BJP, noting that despite sending eight MPs to the party, there has been no financial support for the crucial metro project.
He emphasized that multiple requests to the Union government have gone unanswered, contrasting this with the funding of 20 other metro rail projects across India over the past decade.
KTR detailed the allocations to other states, highlighting the disparity: Uttar Pradesh received Rs. 5,134.99 crore for four projects, Maharashtra Rs. 4,109 crore for three, Gujarat Rs. 3,777.85 crore for three, and Delhi Rs. 3,520.52 crore for two.
Other states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala also received substantial funding, with the Rapid Rail Project between Delhi and Ghaziabad getting Rs. 1,106.65 crore.
Expressing his dissatisfaction, KTR lamented that Hyderabad Metro has been overlooked entirely. He called this omission both unjust and unfair, underscoring the frustration and perceived neglect of Telangana’s needs by the central government.
In May this year, Larsen & Toubro said it was considering selling its stake in the Hyderabad Metro due to a decline in ridership caused by the Telangana government’s free bus ride scheme for women.Larsen & Toubro currently holds a 90 percent stake in the metro project, with the remaining 10 percent owned by the state government.
The metro's daily passenger count has dropped from a peak of 550,000 in November 2023 to 480,000. This decline has raised financial concerns for the company. R Shankar Raman, the company's whole-time director and chief financial officer mentioned in an interview with BT TV that Larsen & Toubro plans to monetize the asset after FY26 as part of its strategy to divest non-core businesses.