Metro and Pharma City projects not scrapped: Telangana CM

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy


Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday said that his government has not scrapped either the Airport Metro Project or the Pharma City one but will streamline them, which were conceived by the previous government.
During an informal meet with media persons, Chief Minister Reddy said the government has decided on the changes in the two projects to meet the aspirations of the people. “We are streamlining them keeping in mind the public interest. Instead of the routes proposed by the previous government, we will reduce the distance and cost to the airport.”

Reddy pointed out that there will not be much commuter traffic from Gachibowli to the airport, which was what the previous BRS government had planned. Now, a metro network will connect Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) to the airport at Shamshabad via Old City.

Instead of the old scheme of extending the Metro from Rai Durgam near HiTech City, it will now be extended from Nagole to Chandrayangutta via LB Nagar and Owaisi Hospital and then will be connected to the airport, he said.

If necessary the Metro will be extended from the IT hub at MindSpace to the Financial District. The proposed plan will cost far less than what the previous government had planned, claimed the Chief Minister, adding that the Pharma City project has not been scrapped either but will be implemented in a phased manner.

“We will create clusters, especially between the Outer Ring Road and Regional Ring Road as Pharma City. We will establish these clusters with residential areas for employees who will work there. They will not be required to travel to and fro from Hyderabad. We will establish these clusters with zero pollution,” said Reddy.

He also elaborated upon plans to convert the former Chief Minister’s camp office into a State Guest House. According to sources, large tracts of land were bought by people close to the previous regime in areas where the Metro and Pharma City projects were going to come up, prompting the present government to rethink these projects.

The Chief Minister also emphasised on decentralization of the administration with ministers being given responsibilities of various districts as in-charges. Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister had met Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan at the Raj Bhavan.