Larson & Toubro, a company based in Hyderabad, is considering selling the Hyderabad Metro project after 2026, because the number of passengers has declined. R Shankar Raman, L&T’s Director, spoke of his concerns over the choice of the bus plan of the government of Congress, which he believes has contributed to a reduction of the readership of the metro.
90% of the shareholders of L&T are running the L&T metro project, and the others are from the Telangana government, with a 10% share. The company has the right to operate the metro for 65 years. Raman wondered why women had a trend of they were the major users of Free Shuttle buses whereas men mostly used railway wagons. Further, he spoke about the Mahalakshmi scheme involving free travel for women and transgenders in the government A/C buses throughout Telangana state.
Raman claimed that the existing ridership had overburdened the project, and L&T was trying to relieve that pressure. With the completion of the sale, the metro project became the first privately built project to fetch such a high amount through a soft loan from the Telangana government: Rs 3,000 crore, which roughly translates to $400 million in US currency.
The enterprise will also increase its real estate assets profitability by leveraging land connected with the subway system. Raman thinks the project could interest investors, such as pension funds and global funds, during the FY26-FY31 planning period because of the 65-year concession period. Meanwhile, he warned against using vehicles that may cause intoxication. He underlined the necessity of a balanced transportation system for Hyderabad that would be built on various transport options.
The last quarter had been relatively good for L&T; it reported a 10% growth in net profit. The increase in the consolidated net profit amounted to Rs 4,396, which is a 2% increase. The revenue figure of Rs.12.63 per head ($590 million) is a massive increase compared to Rs 12.04 crore ($590 million) for the March 2020 quarter. An Rs.59 crore ($590 million) increase represents a 47.7% growth and translates to Rs 57.43 crore per
