Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Sunday announced that the first stage of the Rs 14,132-crore elevated metro rail project between Nagole and Mettuguda (8 km) stretch in Hyderabad will be flagged off by June 2014.

It will be commissioned for public travel by December 2014, he said, after unveiling the plaque for the launch of metro rail works here.

After completion, the project can transport 15 lakh passengers a day. “We are going about the project in a methodical and transparent manner. If the Government will have to pay Rs.33 lakh a day in case of a delay, L&T Metro Rail will have to pay Rs 64 lakh a day,” he explained.

The Outer Ring Road will be fully completed by next year-end, while the first phase of Godavari water will be ready about the same time.

The National Institute of Design and the Life Sciences University are setting up their own campuses, Reddy said.

>amitmitra@thehindu.co.in

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