HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMR, the special purpose vehicle formed by the Government to supervise the project implementation, has formally come into existence with the Registrar of Companies issuing the certificate of incorporation.

HMR Board of Directors will now be empowered to take decisions on behalf of the Government to push the metro rail work ahead in the next few months now that all the five consortia in the race have been given the technical bid documents.

Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department S.P. Singh took charge as the Chairman and N.V.S. Reddy as the Managing Director looking into the day-to-day affairs of HMR on Wednesday.

One-stop shop

At a press conference, Mr. Reddy said HMR would be the one-stop shop for getting all Government permissions for the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) developer including helping in the shifting of utilities and providing a smooth path for the construction.

Shortlisted consortia will have to submit their final technical bids by July 13, which in turn will be vetted by the HMR technical consultants - Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and owner's consultant of Span-Semaly for an objective selection.

Those qualifying in technical bids will be issued with financial bid documents by August-end for submitting financial bids by September-end and selection of BOT developer will be done by October first week.

Pre-bid meeting with the consortia will be held on May 21 for clarifications on bid documents. Consultations were on with the Planning Commissioner and other departments for finalising the `Concession Agreement'.

Such an agreement would indicate the commitments of HMR and BOT developer as also indicating measures to be taken in case of unforeseen political and natural upheavals.

DMRC chief E. Sridharan is said to have visited the city earlier this month for a detailed review of the project and promised to give at least 10 technical officers on deputation to HMR in phases.

He also challenged project critics to an open debate on why metro rail was chosen for the capital and its safety features.

"Negative statements are being made without knowing facts. There is no scope for anyone to get commissioners," Mr. Reddy asserted.

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