Telangana govt to acquire L&T’s stake in Hyderabad Metro Rail project for Rs 2000 cr

It was agreed that the state government would also take over the company’s debt of Rs 13,000 crore, they said. L&T has about 90 per cent equity in the project.

Telangana government has agreed to take over Phase-I of Hyderabad Metro Rail project from L&T Group by paying Rs 2,000 crore for the equity in the concessionaire L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd, official sources said on Thursday.

It was agreed that the state government would also take over the company’s debt of Rs 13,000 crore, they said. L&T has about 90 per cent equity in the project.

Last month, the infra major expressed its desire to offload its stake, the Metro Rail project-about 70 KM, to either the state or central government through a new Special Purpose vehicle (SPV), citing operational and accumulated losses.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, along with senior officials of the state government, held a meeting with L&T group CMD S N Subrahmanyan and others on Thursday to discuss the way forward.

"After detailed negotiations, with an objective to expedite the phase 2 approval by GoI, it was agreed in principle that the State government would take over Phase-I Metro Rail project by taking over the debt of the project, which now stands at about Rs 13,000 cr. Further, the state government will pay about Rs 2,000 cr to L&T towards their equity investment in LTMRHL as a one-time settlement,” sources said.