BJP blames Telangana government for Hyderabad Metro expansion delays, rejects obstruction charges

The Telangana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday accused the state government led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of administrative failures that have stalled the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) expansion, and refuted allegations that the Centre is creating hurdles.

Addressing a press conference at the party’s state office, BJP president N. Ramchander Rao said the Centre had already granted “in-principle approval” for Phase-II of the project and was not opposed to it. He maintained that delays in securing clearances were caused by the state government’s inability to provide clarity on key aspects such as operation and maintenance (O&M), project management, and loan repayment mechanisms related to the takeover of HMR Phase-I from L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad.

Rao claimed that the Congress-led state government had not yet submitted the pre-feasibility report, financial feasibility report, or a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the expansion. “How can approvals be granted when proper documentation is missing?” he asked.

He dismissed as “completely false” the state government’s charge that Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy was obstructing the project by withholding technical approvals. Instead, the BJP leader criticised the state administration for not acting on the Centre’s advice to resolve technical and financial issues.

Rao termed it “ludicrous” that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, after having met the Prime Minister and Union Minister multiple times, was now seeking Mr. Kishan Reddy’s intervention to arrange further meetings. He described the allegations against the Union Minister as “political theatre” aimed at misleading the public and diverting attention from the government’s lack of commitment to infrastructure development.

Highlighting the growth of metro rail under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governments, Rao said the network length had expanded from 248 km before 2014 to 1,155 km under the Narendra Modi government. He termed the tenures of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi as a “golden era” for infrastructure and claimed that the Centre had provided support worth over ₹13 lakh crore for Telangana’s development.

The state government had earlier alleged that the Centre and Mr. Kishan Reddy were delaying technical clearances for the metro expansion. The BJP’s rebuttal marks the latest in a series of exchanges over the project, with both sides trading blame over the impasse.