Hyderabad, Nov 14 : Telangana's Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao has urged Centre to accord in-principle approval for the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase II Project, from BHEL to Lakdikapul costing Rs 8,453 crore, as a jointly owned project of Centre and the state with external financial assistance. In a letter ato Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, KTR, as the Minister is popularly known requested to include the said proposal in the ensuing union budget for 2023-24. The new Metro Line is proposed to be 26 km long with 23 stations. He sought to meet the Union Minister to explain the project. To avoid delays in processing, detailed project reports (DPRs) of the project (as prepared by DMRC) and other related documents were sent to Centre by the Telangana government on October 27, the Minister added. Noting that Hyderabad is the fastest-growing metropolitan city in terms of quarterly and year on year growth of real estate sector especially since 2019-20, he said that with the opening up of all the offices in post-Covid scenario, the need for expansion and strengthening of public transportation system needs no emphasis. The Phase-I of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project spanning over 69 km was successfully implemented and fully operational. Incidentally, it is the world's largest Metro Rail Project in PPP mode under the Centre's VGF scheme, he said. /IANS