Hyderabad: Hyderabad Metro Co., Ltd. (HMRL) plans to renew the fare requirement after Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy returns from a formal visit to Japan, sources said Thursday.
L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd, the project’s franchisee, said the cumulative losses had reached about Rs 65 billion and believed that the revision of the fare was crucial to financial viability. The company first sought higher fares during the COVID-19 lockdown and contacted the former BRS government, but the proposal was rejected.
Now, officials intend to seek national feasibility gap grants, or allow fares to be raised. Metro fares are currently at a minimum of Rs 10 to a maximum of Rs 60; a 20% increase will increase the upper slab to Rs 72.
Under the Feasibility Gap Funding (VGF) program, the government can provide public-private partnership projects that are economically important but not commercially viable.
