'How will metro move forward...': PM Modi wades into L&T metro row, questions viability of poll sops

Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioned poll sops that push states to a situation where they end up struggling for funds. 

In an exclusive interview with the India Today Group, he said parties had no right to "empty state coffers for the sake of elections".

"You build a metro in a city and then to win elections in the same city you promise free bus rides to women. This means you are taking away 50% of your metro passengers," the PM said in a veiled reference to Telangana CM Revanth Reddy's free-bus-rides-for-women scheme that has forced L&T to do a rethink on the Hyderabad Metro. 

L&T president, whole-time director & CFO, R Shankar Raman in a BT TV exclusive said the firm was looking at selling off the Hyderabad Metro post 2026 due to low ridership, adding that Telangana government's free bus ride scheme had made ridership "less interesting".

L&T owns 90 per cent of the metro project while the Telangana government owns the remaining 10 per cent. The company has a 65-year concession to run the metro system. Calling it unsustainable, Raman said sops done on the back of political promises are not going to state finances. 

He said while private capital is needed to create a modern, zero-polluting transport system, money is being spent on making people use polluting buses.

PM Modi, in his interview, underscored the predicament, saying such moves have a dual impact on the state's finances as well as the environment. 

"You have messed with traffic and the environment too. You have made it (bus rides) free and emptied the metro (coffer) as well. Now, how will the metro move forward? How will the country move forward?" he asked. 

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said if L&T is keen on exiting the Hyderabad Metro project due to the state government's free bus ride scheme, they are welcome to do so. 

Reddy said his government will continue with the Congress guarantee of free bus rides to women and transgenders. The CM said his government will look for another player, who would be interested in operating it should L&T opt out. There is nothing much to worry about, he told a bunch of publications in an informal session.