Nava Bharat-Maytas consortium gets nod for Metro Rail Project

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has approved the Nava Bharat-Maytas consortium as the BOT (build-operate-transfer) developer for the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project. The consortium was the lowest bidder for the Rs 12,132-crore project.

“The Cabinet has also approved the extension of the Metro Rail Corridor-III (Shilparamam-Habsiguda) by 4.77 km up to Nagole and also the Draft Concession Agreement (DCA) for the project,” Mr Anam Ramnarayan Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Information and Public Relations Minister, said after the Cabinet meeting.

He added that the consortium was informed that though it had time to complete the project over the next five years, it must do so in four years so that the metro is operational by the beginning of 2011.

The Cabinet also gave its nod for the DCA which is based on the Central Government’s Model Concession Agreement.

The State Cabinet has also approved the additional loan of Rs 265 crore taken from the World Bank for the Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project known at Indira Kranthi Patham.

“The project was scheduled to be closed by September 2008. However, now it will be continued till September 2009 to enable the Mandal Samakyas and village organisations to attain managerial and financial self sustainability,” he said.

The Cabinet also decided to modify the Ordinance for establishing the Andhra Pradesh University of Law with headquarters in Visakhapatnam and campuses at Nizamabad and Kadapa.