Hyderabad:
Top Telangana government officials met the Union Cabinet Secretary as well as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and conveyed to them that the Telangana government fully backs implementation of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project.
Telangana Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma and B V Paparao, Advisor to the Government of Telangana, met the Union officials in connection with the progress of the Hyderabad metro rail project, the Telangana government said in a statement issued in Hyderabad yesterday.
"The Chief Secretary briefed them and informed that the Telangana government fully supports the project and there are no serious issues pending with the Telangana government to implement the project," the statement said.
"He made it clear that this project is being implemented faster than other projects in the country by Larsen and Toubro (L&T). All fiscal and financial milestones to implement this project are on target," the statement said.
The meeting comes in the wake of media reports that the concessionaire (L&T) wrote a letter to the Telangana state government offering to walk out of the Rs 16,000-crore-plus project, as a last resort, if issues are not sorted out.
Advisor to the Telangana government B V Paparao apprised the Cabinet Secretary and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, that the recent letter written by L&T about the Hyderabad metro rail project and its leakage to some selected newspapers is the handiwork of the "Andhra Pradesh lobby" supported by its media, to tarnish Hyderabad's brand image.
"The Government of India has assured full co-operation to implement the project," the Telangana government statement added.