The Hyderabad Metro is a rapid transit system, serving the city of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The three lines are arranged in a secant model and contain 57 stations. It is funded by a public–private partnership (PPP), with the state government holding a minority equity stake. A special purpose vehicle company, L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited (L&TMRHL), was established by the construction company Larsen & Toubro to develop the Hyderabad Metro rail project.
A stretch from Miyapur to Nagole, with 24 stations, was inaugurated on 28 November 2017 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was the longest rapid transit metro line opened in one go in India. It is estimated to cost . As of February 2020, about 490,000 people use the Metro per day. Trains are crowded during the morning and evening rush hours. A ladies only coach was introduced on all the trains from 7 May 2018. Post-COVID, 450,000 passengers were travelling on Hyderabad Metro daily on average by December 2022. On 3 July 2023, Hyderabad Metro Rail achieved a daily ridership of 0.51 million.
History
The Hyderabad Metro rail project was initiated by the NDA government in 2003. As Hyderabad continued to grow, the Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) had insufficient capacity for public transport, and the Union Ministry of Urban Development approved construction of the Hyderabad Metro rail project, directing the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to conduct a survey of the proposed lines and to submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR). To meet rising public transport needs and mitigate growing road traffic in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, the state government and the South Central Railway jointly launched the MMTS in August 2003. The initial plan was for the Metro to connect with the existing MMTS to provide commuters with alternate modes of transport. Simultaneously, the proposals for taking up the construction of MMTS Phase II were also taken forward.
In 2007, N. V. S. Reddy was appointed managing director of Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited, and the same year, the Central Government approved financial assistance of 1639 crore under a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme. The option of an underground metro system in Hyderabad was ruled out by L&T due to the presence of hard rocks, boulders and the topography of the soil in Hyderabad. Hyderabad Metro initially began under the Andhra Pradesh Municipal Tramways (Construction, Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2008, and later, it came under the Central Metro Act which permitted revision of fares. On 26 March 2018, the Government of Telangana announced that it would set up an SPV "Hyderabad Airport Metro Limited (HAML)", jointly promoted by HMRL and HMDA, to extend the Blue Line from Raidurg to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad, under Phase II after the completion of Phase I in 2020.
Initial bidding The bidding process was completed by July 2008 and awarded to Maytas, which failed to achieve financial closure for the project as per schedule by March 2009.
Re-bidding The state government cancelled the contract and called for a fresh rebidding for the project. In the July 2010 rebidding process, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) emerged as the lowest bidder for the project. L&T came forward to take up the work for about as viability gap funding as against the sanctioned . The Bharatiya Janata Party government proactively pursued the project, but it was delayed due to separate state agitation and later due to the apprehensions of the new government. A consortium of 10 banks led by State Bank of India sanctioned the entire debt requirement of the Hyderabad Metro project, which was the largest fund tie-up in India for a non-power infrastructure public-private partnership (PPP) project at that time.
Ownership transfer Following the inauguration of the first stretch of Hyderabad Metro in November 2017, L&T requested the state government to provide approximately ₹3,756 crore to address cost overruns and delays in site handovers. By February 2020, cumulative losses had reportedly exceeded ₹5,000 crore. This was further worsened due to the high-interest loans taken under the public–private partnership model contributing to financial strain. The COVID-19 pandemic further impacted operations, as prolonged shutdowns resulted in an additional loss of around ₹382 crore. In response, L&T sought a bailout of ₹3,000 crore from the government, of which ₹1,000 crore was approved. L&T was also forced to restructure the debt in an effort to reduce its losses. Despite a gradual recovery in ridership, annual losses continued to rise reaching ₹625.88 crores in FY2025. The company also criticized that the state’s free bus travel scheme for women could affect metro ridership, although the metro simultaneously recorded peak passenger numbers.
Soon after, L&T informed the state government that it would not participate in Phase‑2 of the Hyderabad Metro project. The central government stated that if L&T opted out of Phase‑2, the state government would need to integrate Phase‑1 with the new phase. The company rejected the revenue-sharing model proposed by the state and began exploring options to exit the project entirely. In response, the state government proposed acquiring L&T’s stake for ₹15,000 crore, comprising the transfer of ₹13,000 crore in outstanding loans and a ₹2,000 crore payout, or alternatively allowing L&T to sell its stake privately with the government matching the highest bid. L&T countered with a demand of ₹20,000 crore, reflecting ₹7,000 crore in equity and incurred losses. The government rejected this valuation, noting that L&T had already received a ₹900 crore soft loan from the government and ₹2,200 crore from real estate sales. After several months of negotiations, the two parties reached a final agreement for the government to acquire L&T’s stake for ₹15,000 crore, including the loan transfer and payout. Ownership transfer shall be finalized by the end of March 2026. (PDF)
Construction Phases Current phases The construction work was undertaken in two phases. There are six stages of completion in Phase I. Phase 1 networkNo.Line nameTerminalsStationsDistanceLineOpening date1 RedMiyapurAmeerpet11Line I29 November 2017AmeerpetLB Nagar1624 September 20182 GreenJBSMGBS9Line II7 February 20203 BlueRaidurgHitech City1Line III29 November 2019Hitech CityAmeerpet820 March 2019AmeerpetNagole1429 November 201759Phase 2A networkNo.Line nameTerminalsStationsDistanceLineOpening date1 RedPatancheruvuMiyapur10Line I extensionDPR Submitted LB NagarHayathnagar62 GreenMGBSChandryangutta6Line II extension3 BlueKokapet NeopolisRaidurg10Line III extension4 PurpleNagoleRGIA24Line IV56Phase 2B networkNo.Line nameTerminalsStationsDistanceLineOpening date7 Corridor IRGIAFuture City940 km (24.8548 mi)TBAProposed8 Corridor IIJBSMedchal1824 km (14.9129 mi)TBA9 Corridor IIIJBSShamirpet1422 km (13.6 mi)TBA42
Phase I
Phase I lines and sections Phase-1 of Hyderabad Metro consists of three fully elevated corridors. Blue, Red, and Green, spanning a total length of 67.21km (41.76 mi) with 59 stations. The Blue and Red lines were inaugurated first in 2017, while the Green line opened later in 2020, completing the Phase-1 network. Initially, Phase-1 was planned to be around with 64 stations, including an extension to Hyderabad’s Old City, but this section faced delays due to land acquisition and regulatory challenges and was subsequently deferred to Phase-2.
Red Line - LB Nagar-Miyapur - & 27 stations Green Line - JBS–Falaknuma & 10 stations Blue Line - Nagole–Raidurg - & 24 stations The first phase of the project was initially budgeted at ₹14,132 crore. With cost escalation, this was later revised to ₹15,957 crores in March 2012. This was once again revised to ₹18,800 crores in November 2017. The sudden increase in cost forced the state government to grant L&T a soft loan of ₹1,000 crores, with a plan for an additional ₹2,000 crores, which never materialized.
Construction The project officially commenced with the groundbreaking ceremony on 26 April 2012, followed by the erection of the first pillars on the same day. Rail laying began in November 2013 between Nagole and Mettuguda, and the first train arrived from Korea in May 2014, with trial runs starting shortly thereafter. Safety approvals from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety were granted in stages, including the Miyapur–SR Nagar stretch in August 2016 and Nagole–Mettuguda in November 2017.
The first commercial operations of the Hyderabad Metro commenced with the inauguration of the Red Line (Miyapur–Ameerpet, 16 km) and the Blue Line (Ameerpet–Nagole) in November 2017. The Red Line was further extended from Ameerpet to LB Nagar on 24 September 2018. On the Blue Line, services were opened between Ameerpet and HITECH City on 20 March 2019, followed by the final extension to Raidurg on 29 November 2019.
By May 2019, construction of all 2,599 pillars (excluding the Old City stretch) had been completed. Phase 1 final extension and line, the Green Line was launched. The line running from Jubilee Bus Station (JBS) to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) was inaugurated on 7 February 2020.
Old city metro line Earlier in 2010, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen suggested an alternate route for a metro in the old city through Purana Pul, Musallam Jung, Bahadurpura, Zoo Park, Tadbun junction, Kalapathar, Misrigunj and Shamsheergunj to Falaknuma. However, this route was not accepted. The eastern parts of the old city have access to the metro via the Malakpet metro station. A -long green line in the old city will pass through Dar-ul-Shifa, Salar Jung Museum, Charminar, Shah-Ali-Banda, Shamsheer Gunj, and Jungametta, and end at Falaknuma. In June 2022, Hyderabad Metro Rail started a fresh survey of the Old City route from MGBS for underground utilities. The survey is through the Lidar, Global Positioning System and Inertial measurement unit and the plan is to build the elevated line alongside Musi river and center of the road. In July 2023, Telangana Chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao instructed the municipal administration and L&T chairman to take forward the metro project in old city. On 16 July 2023, Hyderabad Metro MD NVS Reddy states that preparatory work for taking up Metro Rail works in old city had started and land acquisition notices for 1,100 affected properties would be issued in about a month. All five metro stations in the old city will have 120-feet wide roads under the viaduct. On 27 August 2023, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited started a drone survey of the proposed rail alignment in the old city.
Phase II
History Following the inauguration of the Blue and Red Lines on 29 November 2017, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) announced a concept plan for Phase 2, which was proposed to cover around 80 km across four corridors. The plan included extensions of the Red Line from Miyapur to Patancheruvu and from LB Nagar to Hayathnagar, along with a dedicated Airport Express Line and other potential routes.