L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad), the body that will implement the project, has achieved financial closure for the project in just six months. A consortium of 10 banks led by the State Bank of India has sanctioned the entire debt requirement of approximately £1.58bn for the project. According to the company, it is the largest funding tie-up in India to date for a public-private partnership project. The equity component, expected to be about £473m, will be provided primarily by the L&T Group. The project will also get a central government grant of about £200m through the government of Andhra Pradesh.
Lowest bidder L&T had signed the concession agreement through L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) on 4 September 2010. The project involves construction of 71.16km of elevated metro rail in three corridors criss-crossing the city of Hyderabad. Stations will be located roughly every 1km and the metro system will be integrated with the exiting suburban railway network and bus stops.
The project is expected to provide employment to about 50,000 people including 1,200 to to 1,500 technical professionals during construction. Pre-construction work has already started, with soil testing and topographical surveys completed in most locations along the alignment. Conceptual engineering by the Aecom-Feedback Venture consortium is nearing completion.
Louis Berger Consulting has been appointed by Andra Pradesh as the independent engineer to oversee design and execution of the project.
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