The Rs 16,345-crore Hyderabad Metro Rail project, the 72-km long elevated metro rail project and the largest ever undertaken by Larsen & Toubro, is to be completed by December 2018, a delay of nearly 18 months from the original schedule.
There is, however, no clear picture on the actual cost overruns as it is apparently linked to the time overrun. Estimates vary but BT learns that over 60 per cent of the project has been completed and an equal share of funds used so far.
The project has three components of equity - from L&T to the tune of around Rs 2,800 crore; viability gap funding from the Central government amounting to around Rs 1,450 crore (out of this, the project has received Rs 651 crore so far); and the rest being the debt component.
Some of these details were shared by L&T Metro Rail officials in Hyderabad at a press conference on Wednesday, May 4, organised to announce that Shivanand Nimbargi was taking over as the new managing director and CEO of L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited. He is expected to take the project forward to its formal completion in 2018. Nimbargi replaces V.B. Gadgil, who is to retire on May 31 after a long stint with L&T and leading the metro rail project for the past six years.
L&T Metro Rail sees Nimbargi bringing with him expertise across areas such as "sourcing, procurement, sales, business development, commissioning and erection of plants and managing various lines of businesses". He holds a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from PDA Engineering College, Gulbarga followed by an advanced management program from INSEAD.