The Hyderabad Metro rail project being developed as a transformational project has managed to thrash out most of the Right of Way bottlenecks as it gets into denser parts of the city for execution.

Armed with Safety Certification from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety for two sections of 8 km and 12 km respectively of the elevated 72-km metro rail project spanning three dense corridors, efforts are on to accelerate the pace of work over the next few quarters.

NVS Reddy, Managing Director of Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd, in an interaction with BusinessLine said, “Thus far about 68-70 per cent of the metro works, covering 59 km of foundations, pillars in 56 km and viaduct in 47 km have been completed. We expect majority of the works to be completed by the end of 2017.”

“While two sections of the elevated metro rail are ready for commissioning, we are looking at appropriate time for operating them, once we add more segments,” he said.

“The ₹16,375-crore project has seen over ₹10,800 crore investment by L&T and ₹1,950 crore by Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd. The metro project, being executed by L&T under public-private-partnership mode, is likely to see some project cost escalation.”

Reddy said, “This was a transformational project and is set to change the way people commute and live in Hyderabad when it is fully operational. Apart from encouraging people to take to public transport, it will become a hub for people with its shopping malls and other facilities.”

Land parcels in 17 locations have been earmarked for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). Of this, works are at advanced stage at a few locations, including one of the biggest in the IT hub terminal. These transit hubs will be a mix of business, commercial and entertainment space, encouraging people to make them their routine lifestyle hubs.

Asked if there was any slowdown in the progress of the project he explained “As the works enter critical phase and denser parts of the city, people may perceive there is slowdown. But this is not the case. In fact, big chunk of work is executed at higher planes, and in developing stations, rail overbridges and interconnects.”

It has not been a smooth ride either as the metro project had to face more than 200 court cases, leading to delays in execution. But works are gathering pace in core city markets, where tough issues had to be tackled, he added.

“We are also considering extending and linking up some segments of the metro rail, which will add to the convenience of the public,” he said.