Civic work to start in a year: Metro Phase II boasts of most expensive underground line

BENGALURU: Civil work on the most challenging and most expensive Metro underground section -from Dairy Circle to Nagawara (13.79 km) -might begin in a year's time with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation floating tenders under four separate packages.

The underground section, a part of the Gottigere-Nagawara stretch, is also the longest stretch of the 72km Namma Metro Phase II, which includes a total of six lines (four are extensions of Phase I project). Four contractors and 12 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be pressed into action to build 12 underground stations.

In March this year, Namma Metro a floated bids for the construction of Gottigere to Swagath road cross.The line dives underground after Sagar Hospital near the fire station and goes up to Nagawara beyond the Outer Ring Road.




BMRCL had taken five years to tunnel 8.8 km of the underground section of Phase I. This time it has doubled the number of TBMs from six to twelve.

Excluding the cost involved in land acquisition, shifting of utilities and road widening, only the construction of this entire line and stations from Nagawara to Gottigere is expected to cost not less than Rs 5,623 crore.

The corporation will raise a loan of around Rs 5,500 crore from the European Investment Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.The process is in the final stages.