No toll on proposed HAM roads, says Komatireddy; Minister accuses BRS of neglecting road infra

HYDERABAD

Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy lashed out at the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime accusing it of neglecting the State’s road infrastructure. He also made it clear that there would not be any toll on the proposed Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) roads.

Responding to former minister T. Harish Rao’s query during a discussion on Budget 2025 in the Assembly on Saturday, Mr. Venkat Reddy said that 40% funds for HAM roads would come from the State government, while the remaining 60% would be sourced through loans.

He said that the Congress government had sanctioned ₹4,000 crore in one year, while the BRS government spent ₹8,112 crore on 6,668 km of roads in 10 years. Referring to former US president John F Kennedy’s famous lines “It is not our wealth that built our roads, but it is our roads that built our wealth”, the Minister said that Congress government truly believed in it.

He accused the BRS government of failing to secure funds from the Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF), while the Congress government had secured ₹850 crore under CRIF. He further alleged that the BRS prioritised the construction of buildings over roads, but Congress, in contrast, had completed 15 bridges and 2,000 km roads in just 15 months without borrowing money.

Referring to the proposed road development models, the R&B Minister noted that government had no proposals for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects, and is exploring HAM, which is implemented in eight states. He pointed out that BRS had developed roads in GHMC under the Comprehensive Road Management Program (CRMP), which is similar to HAM.

He also criticised BRS for delays in key projects, stating that the Uppal Elevated Corridor, gazetted in 2017, remained incomplete. He announced that the Congress had allocated ₹ 1,525 crore for Regional Ring Road (RRR) and assured that the Uppal project would be completed in 18 months.

Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar intervened to highlight the poor road conditions in Vikarabad, calling for immediate action. When Mr. Harish Rao accused the Congress of attempting to raise ₹50,000 crore through land sale, Mr. Venkat Reddy responded by alleging that ORR, developed during Congress rule, was sold for ₹7,300 crore ahead of the 2023 elections.

BRS walkout

The war of words continued when former R&B minister V. Prashanth Reddy and Mr. Venkat Reddy engaged in a debate over road infrastructure. He claimed that the BRS government had developed 8,672 km of double-lane roads and 669 km of four-lane roads at nearly ₹22,000 crore, whereas the Congress had only completed 55 km out of a targeted 769 km in 10 months.

In his reply, Mr. Venkat Reddy said that Mr. Prashanth Reddy was busy performing pujas and yagnas and constructing the Secretariat, instead of focusing on road development.