Published Jun 24, 2026 | 9:20 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 24, 2026 | 9:33 PM
Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao
Synopsis: K Ramakrishna Rao’s role as the head of the Finance Department may have influenced the government’s move to appoint him as the HMRL chief. His experience may come in handy since the existing metro operations, as well as the proposed second phase, require a huge investment. Meanwhile, Sanjay Jaju is likely to succeed Rao as the chief secretary.
Telangana Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao will be appointed as the new head of Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL).
The state government is learnt to have decided to make Rao — due to retire by June-end — the HMRL head as a post-retirement gesture. He had succeeded Somesh Kumar as the chief secretary in 2023.
Rao is likely to be succeeded by Sanjay Jaju, a 1992-IAS officer from the Telangana cadre, as the chief secretary. Jaju, who had been on central deputation, was relieved of his duties on Tuesday, 23 June.
Rao has already been given two extensions as the chief secretary. Another senior officer, Jayesh Ranjan, who was lobbying for the post, reportedly fell out of favour with the government over some of his “questionable actions”. Ranjan, too, belongs to the 1992 batch.
The government’s choice of Rao for HMRL was probably influenced by his role heading the Finance Department for many years. His experience may come in handy since the existing metro operations, as well as the proposed second phase, require a huge investment.
The state government took over the operations of Metro Rail from infrastructure giant Larsen & Toubro (L & T) in April 2026. It has also secured ₹13,600 crore term loan refinancing facility from Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited (IRFC) to acquire 100% equity in L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited.
The metro rail is currently running at a loss, with an estimated deficit in the range of ₹1.5 to ₹2 crore per day.
Following discussions between Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the Union ministers concerned a couple of days ago, it was decided that SBI Caps will be appointed as the agency to conduct a fresh evaluation of the metro’s current value and also assess the fiscal requirement for the proposed second phase.
SBI Caps is expected to submit its report within a couple of months. Sarfraz Ahmed, a 2009-batch IAS officer, is now heading the metro.
