8.7.09

Maytas out of Hyd Metro project


Nearly four months after the Maytas Infraled consortium failed to achieve financial closure and give performance guarantee, the Andhra Pradesh government was on Tuesday forced to end its unprecedented generosity and cancel the concession agreement with the group on the Rs 12,132-crore Hyderabad Metro Rail project. Maytas chairman K Ramalingam met the chief minister on Monday evening and sought some more time which was rejected by Rajasekhara Reddy. The state government is now desperately exploring alternatives to put the jinxed project, which plunged into uncertainty due to Maytas Infra’s close connection to Satyam scam-tainted Raju family, back on track. On the plus side, the state has Rs 71 crore (bid security amount of Rs 60 crore and bid offer amount of Rs 11 crore) which Maytas forfeited for not achieving financial closure. Among options still open is a centre-state joint project. The union urban development ministry headed by S Jaipal Reddy is pushing for the state to take up this option on the lines of Delhi and Bangalore Metros. This would imply that the centre and state would have an equity of 25% each and Jaipal Reddy has said on many occasions in the last few weeks that the centre would fund the project under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The remaining 50% would be raised through funding from financial institutions like Japanese International Cooperation Agency.

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