HYDERABAD: It was a late night call from Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram which ensured that the Hyderabad Mass Rapid Transit System got included in the Union Budget presented on Tuesday.

Dr. Reddy is believed to have also contacted the Union Urban Development Affairs Minister Jaipal Reddy so that substantial funds are obtained under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for first phase of MRTS proposed for a distance of 60 km on three routes in the twin cities.

Early birds

The mission got an outlay of about Rs. 4,500 crores. Other than Hyderabad, Metro projects in Bangalore and Mumbai had already been included in the mission last year itself.

While Bangalore Metro is being totally funded by the Karnataka Government for 32 km, Mumbai Metro is a Build, Operate and Transfer project over 11 km only.

The Chief Minister is said to have directed his senior officials to send the MRTS proposals immediately to the Finance Ministry by fax for perusal and pointed out during his conversation that six consortia had pre-qualified were short-listed for developing the system.

Third corridor

Dr. Reddy said his Government took the initiative for preparing Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the third corridor in addition to the two other corridors already prepared.

The third project report to be completed in the next 10 days.

The Government is expecting to get 20 per cent of viability gap funding under the Urban Renewal Mission fund in the form of a grant after the developers submit their financial bids.

They would depend on whether the project will be given a tax holiday or partial tax concessions to be suggested by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation preparing the updated DPRs.

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