Vizag metro study to be completed in 2 months: Min Narayana

Visakhapatnam: The Visakhapatnam metro rail project is currently under consideration by the Union govt, said state municipal administration and urban development minister P Narayana. He attended the regional workshop conducted by the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (Hudco) on the Urban Invest Window (UiWIN) in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. Speaking to the media after the meeting, the minister said that a private organisation is currently conducting a study on the project, which is expected to be completed within two months. "After that, the works will be taken up on a fast-track basis to complete the metro project within three years. Steps are also being taken to develop a semi-ring road, similar to the outer ring road in Hyderabad, from Rambilli to Bhogapuram," Narayana said.Hudco recently launched UiWIN as a dedicated institutional mechanism designed to support urban local bodies and cities in developing bankable, investment-ready urban infrastructure projects. Specialists from national and international institutions, including NITI Aayog, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, and the International Finance Corporation, along with other private financial institutions and banks, participated in the workshop deliberations.The event was also attended by Ongole MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, secretary, ministry of housing and urban affairs, Srinivas Katikithala, principal secretary, Andhra Pradesh municipal administration and urban development, S. Suresh Kumar, and chairman and managing director of Hudco, Sanjay Kulshrestha.The workshop saw participation from more than 150 senior officials from five southern states — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana — and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The participants represented urban local bodies, state government departments and HUDCO.Minister Narayana said that UiWIN has been designed as a one-stop facilitator that will provide end-to-end support to cities. This includes identifying bankable projects, preparing DPRs and feasibility studies, financial structuring, credit rating, and municipal bond assistance. It will also support pooled finance for smaller urban local bodies, access to multilateral and bilateral funding, public-private partnership transaction support, and implementation assistance through dedicated UiWIN state offices and investment support units.Ongole MP and chairman of the standing committee on housing and urban affairs, Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, said that cities need to focus on the effective management of municipal assets.