Telangana CM Reddy has said his government will continue with the Congress guarantee of free bus rides to women and transgenders and will explore more options for the betterment of the state.
(photo credit-x.com/@MetroTransitMN)
Hyderabad: In a big announcement, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has assured that free bus rides will continue in the state. The Telangana CM also said that if L&T is keen on exiting the Hyderabad Metro project due to the state government’s free bus ride scheme, they are welcome to do so.
CM Reddy said his government will continue the free bus rides for women and transgender people that were introduced by the Congress government and will explore more options for the betterment of the state. Moreover, the CM also said that his government will look for another player who would be interested in operating it should L&T opt out.
CM Reddy Reacts To ‘Less interesting’ Comment Of L&T President:
In an exclusive with BT TV, L&T President, whole-time Director & CFO, R Shankar Raman, made a statement that the ridership is very low and that the company is looking to sell off the Hyderabad Metro post by 2026 and with that, the free bus ride, which made the scheme “Less interesting.”CM Reddy has reacted to Raman’s statement and said that governments do not function as per the whims and fantasies of corporations.
L&T Shareholding And Details:
L&T is the major share holder in this project, owning 90 per cent of the metro project, while the Telangana government owns the remaining 10 per cent. The company has a 65-year concession to run the metro system and is planning to upgrade and make plans for the future.
Raman continued to describe it as not sustainable. “Some of these sops are done on the back of political promises, which is not going to help the state finances because what is the point in making the state’s transport corporation go bankrupt…there’s no fun in doing that,” Raman said. He said while private capital is needed to create a modern, zero-polluting transport system, money is being spent on making people use polluting buses but the CM has other plans of its own.
He told BT TV that L&T had successfully negotiated a Rs 3,000 crore soft loan with the Telangana government to be repaid without interest. The company was also planning to monetize some of the real estate attached to the metro system. “My assessment is that when we sit down for the FY26-FY31 plan, this could be an asset to be monetize in that period because it would then be of interest to investors, particularly the pension funds and global funds given the 65-year concession,” he told BT TV.