The prospect is awesome. Shopping malls, multiplexes, office space and retail chains spread over 18.5 million square feet. This massive project is being planned along the 72-km Hyderabad Metro Rail corridors, to make the metro “financially viable.”
Project developer L&T has decided to develop six million square feet in the next 5-6 years as part of its plans to execute Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) along the metro rail routes and in the depots at Nagole, Miyapur and Falaknuma.
With the government fixing the minimum ticket price for metro rail at `8, the L&T is focusing on real estate development to generate revenues for making the metro project financially viable.
L&T has earmarked Rs 2,243 crore for realty development alone as part of TOD, while spending another Rs 14,132 crore on the metro rail project.
“The world over, the experience has been that metro rail systems are financially unviable. To make them viable, the government has to either cross-subsidise the project developer or raise ticket prices. This will impose an additional burden on the government and the public. To avoid this, the real estate development component has been included in the Hyderabad Metro Rail project to enable the developer to generate revenues and make the project financially viable,” said Mr N.V.S. Reddy, managing director, HMR.
As per the agreement with L&T, the government has to allot 269 acres for the metro. The government has already allotted 239 acres. L&T has conducted a study to identify locations for setting up shopping malls and other commercial centres.