Hyderabad metro project setback for L&T

A delay in the Hyderabad Metro Rail project may hurt the fortunes of L&T, India's largest engineering company.The six-month delay in the Hyderabad Metro Rail project may delay orders worth over Rs 1,500 crore for L&T. This project has been affected by a delay in land allotment by the State and the political standoff over Telangana.A senior official of L&T Hyderabad Metro, one of the largest public-private partnership (PPP) project awarded in the country said Rs 2,400 crore was planned to be spent by March 2012, which is 15% of the total budget of the project. Of this, L&T was expected to get Rs 1,560 cr towards construction bills.This project's delay means L&T may not be able to book those revenues in fourth quarter of this financial year. And that's not all; an L&T official also said that the total cost of the project is forecasted to be increased by around Rs 800 cr on the back of higher interest rates.The company’s stock yesterday closed at Rs 1,136.35, down 2% on the BSE.