Karnataka plans high-speed rail link at Rs 3,600 cr

BANGALORE: Karnataka Government has approved a high-speed rail link between the city and the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) at Devanahally at a cost of Rs 3,600 crore.

The rail link aims to cover the 33 km distance (between the city and BIA) in 25 minutes, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa told reporters after reviewing various projects. "It is also proposed to have check-in counters (for the BIA) on Cubbon Road (in the heart of the city)", he added.

Officials said the rail link would be established under the public-private-partnership model.

Meanwhile, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) would float a global tender for building the first phase (65 kms) of a 115 km peripheral ring road, aimed at decongesting Bangalore, in the next three months.

About 1,800 acres of land has been acquired for the first phase (Tumkur Road to Hosur Road), whose cost would be around Rs 3,000 crore including land acquisition costs. The project would be taken up under Build-Own-Transfer (BOT) or annuity basis, officials said.

BDA plans to build about 92,000 flats measuring 3.25 square metres each for economically weaker sections. Each flat would cost around Rs three lakh. A total of 326 acres of land has already been acquired for the purpose and the constructed flats would be shared on 50:50 basis, that is the developer who invests would get half of the flats built, officials said

Besides the economically-weaker sections, beneficiaries from other poor sections and middle-class peoople would also be allotted some houses under this scheme, they said.