Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday, December 9, laid the foundation stone for the 31 km-long Hyderabad Airport Metro Rail project construction. The project, starting at Mindspace junction to Shamshabad (Hyderabad International Airport) Airport, would cost approximately Rs 6,250 crore, KCR said. The project entails a 27 km elevated route and a 2.5 Km underground passage, he further added.
The project is entirely funded by the state government, the GMR group (which manages Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad) and HMDA (Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority), KCR said in a public meeting after laying the foundation stone. "Mass Transport and Metro Rail are the only traffic and pollution-free systems in the world. There is a need to expand this in Hyderabad also. Whether the Union government cooperates or not, we will create better connectivity in the city," he said.
Complimenting the officials for putting efforts to make the Airport Metro a reality, KCR said Hyderabad, which is known as a true cosmopolitan city in the country by espousing all religions and communities, has now become a global city. Hyderabad was not appropriately developed during earlier regimes in undivided Andhra Pradesh, he alleged.
KCR said Hyderabad city has been turned into a "power island" by connecting it with all power generating stations in the state and the national electricity grid, resulting in continuous power supply. "That means there may be power outages in London, New York and Paris cities, but there will not be any power interruption in Hyderabad," he asserted. There are 500 important IT firms in the city, he said, adding permissions are given to construct skyscrapers also. He also stressed the need to increase greenery further in the city.