GMR group, which operates Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad, plans to invest around Rs 500 crore in a metro rail link project worth Rs 5,000 crore, which the Telangana government proposed to connect to the airfield from various parts of the city.

The aerodrome operator will invest Rs 519.52 by 2024, as indicated by a consultation paper on the tariff revision for the third control period from April 2021 to March 2026 that GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd has proposed and the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority has issued.

The consultation paper said that the envisaged cost of the metro line project would be around Rs 5000 crore, of which the contribution of HIAL's would be around Rs 500 crore. It is equal to the estimated cost of connectivity of the metro within the airport precinct.

The Telangana Government approved expanding the metro rail link to RGIA from various parts of the city under phase II of the Hyderabad Metro project.

The state government formed a Special Purpose Vehicle- Hyderabad Airport Metro Limited (HAML), responsible for the operations, construction, development, and management of the Airport Metro link.

The Airport Metro Link is predicted to span a total of around 31 km. The plans foresee the development of an 8 km alignment and set up of three metro stations within the premises of RGIA.

HIAL requested the Ministry of Civil Aviation to consider the capital contribution as an aeronautical asset and include the same for aeronautical charges in determining the Regulatory Asset Base (RAB).

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