Central grant for Metro Rail to be hiked

Hyderabad, Oct 18: Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy today said there was a proposal to increase grant for the Metro Rail Project under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) from the present 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

Talking to newspersons after participating in a two-day workshop on 'Mainstreaming Public-Private Partnerships in the Urban Sector', organised by the Union Ministries of Finance and Urban Development and Asian Development Bank (ADB) here, he said the proposal would be finalised soon.

Mr Reddy said the proposed Metro Rail project in Hyderabad would cost Rs 9,200 crore and the State would get Rs 3,000 crore as Central grant once the proposal was finalised.

He said there was also a proposal to increase the number of cities under JNNURM from the present 63. Tirupati was one of the most important cities likely to make it to the extended list.

UNI