Hyderabad, May 6 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Wednesday met Union Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal and urged him to approve the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-II project.

In their meeting in the national capital, the Chief Minister briefed the Union Minister that the Telangana government has already formulated a comprehensive plan for Metro Rail Phase-II comprising 7 corridors, and a Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been submitted to the Union Government.

In view of the increasing demand for metro rail services, the Chief Minister appealed to the Union Minister to expedite the approval for undertaking the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-II project as a joint venture between the Union government and the Telangana government.

The Chief Minister said that the state government has already submitted a comprehensive DPR for Phase-II, covering a total distance of 122.9 km across seven corridors at an estimated cost of Rs 38,595 crore.

During the meeting, Revanth Reddy discussed the pending approval of Metro Rail Phase-II and Phase-III. The Chief Minister apprised the Union Minister of the urgent need for the expansion of the metro rail network to ensure safe public transportation and commuter convenience in the rapidly developing city of Hyderabad.

According to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), Revanth Reddy told Manohar Lal that the state government had taken full control of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-I from the L&TMRHL with the specific objective of ensuring the smooth and seamless execution of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-II and Phase-III expansion projects.

Since the Phase-I project was taken over by the government, CM Revanth Reddy emphasised that this will facilitate Phase-II and Phase-III.

To meet the future requirements of public transportation, he also requested the Centre to take up the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport–Bharat Future City corridor under Metro Rail Phase-III. The Chief Minister apprised the Union Minister that the DPR pertaining to Metro Phase-III has already been submitted.

Union Secretary for Housing and Urban Affairs K. Srinivas, Special Secretary to the Chief Minister B. Ajith Reddy, HMRCL MD Sarfaraz Ahmed, State Government Advisor (Urban Transport) N.V.S. Reddy, Officer on Special Duty at Telangana Bhavan (Delhi) Sanjay Kumar, Secretary for Coordination of Central Government Schemes Advait Kumar Singh, and others participated in the meeting.

–IANS

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