Elevated corridor for Bengaluru to cost double the budget figure

BENGALURU: The elevated corridor project for Bengaluru, which mysteriously reappeared on the agenda after being in cold storage for two years, is more expensive than initially believed. For the 95-km interconnected corridor to materialise, it requires an investment of not less than Rs 33,600 crore.

In the recent state budget, chief minister HD Kumaraswamy pegged the cost of the project at Rs 15,825 crore. Apparently, this figure does not factor in the cost of acquiring around 152 acres of land. Including that, the government projects the cost at Rs 33,600 crore.

The government proposes to take up the project on the hybrid annuity model where a private player bears 60% of the construction cost.

The responsibility of pitching in the other 40% of the construction cost and the entire cost of land acquisition is on the state government.

A similar model is being followed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

The Centre entirely funds land acquisition costs for highway construction, NHAI officials in Karnataka said. In the case of projects pertaining to Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation, the state government bears the land acquisition cost while the construction cost is raised from different sources including borrowings.

The Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL), the nodal agency tasked with the responsibility of executing the elevated corridor project, admitted that land acquisition was the biggest challenge.

“We require about 152 acre of land. Of which, 35 acre is required in the core area where the loop that connects two long elevated corridors will come up. We may have to drop these loops in case the land cost is too high,” Rajesh K, chief engineer at KRDCL, told ET.

The official added the corporation was facing difficulties in acquiring land for several projects due to the new Land Acquisition Act (2013).

“Earlier, we used to worry about funding the construction cost. Now, the land acquisition cost is much more than the project cost,” Rajesh added.

Agency to Share All Details
With citizen groups and experts demanding transparency in the project, the Karnataka Road Development Corporation is expected to put all information relating to the elevated corridor project in the public domain. “We have already prepared the pre-feasibility report and environment impact assessment study. Both documents will be shared on our website in a week. We will take up the project only if people want it,” chief engineer Rajesh K told ET.