BENGALURU: The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has formally submitted a detailed proposal to the Centre asking it to fund 10 percent of the cost of two of its crucial projects: the Metro link route from Nagawara to the Kempe Gowda International Airport (KIA) and the Outer Ring Road (ORR) route.
Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development, and BMRCL Managing Director Mahendra Jain met top officials of the Central government at New Delhi on Monday in this connection. The 29-km Nagawara to Kempe Gowda International Airport (KIA) line costs `5,950 crore while the ORR line from K R Puram to Silk Board (Phase-2A) running to 17 km costs Rs 4,202 crore.
Jain said, “We had submitted a similar proposal when Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri visited the city last month. A request to expedite the proposal has now been made by us and we have received a positive response.”
Under the new Metro Rail Policy, the Centre will fund 10 per cent of the cost of new Metro projects subject to the proposal fulfilling numerous conditions stipulated by it. “We are confident of getting the funding at the earliest as we fulfil all the norms required,” Jain added.
On the status of the proposal regarding the imposition of a User Development Fee for passengers travelling from KIA airport in order to fund `1,000 crore of the cost of the airport link, the MD said, “It has been sent to the Centre sometime ago. We are awaiting their response.” The ORR line will be the first Metro line to be built on the Innovative Financing model with top corporate concerns already expressing their interest to fund different stations along the route.
BMRCL smashes revenue record, earns B1.11 cr
BMRCL clocked its highest revenue collection on Monday (January 8) by earning a fare revenue of Rs 1,11,18,562. “This is our highest revenue so far,” said the BMRCL MD. While the Purple Line helped it earn over Rs 58.6 lakh, the Green Line contributed over Rs 52.57 lakh, he said. The ridership on both lines stood at 3,81,536, he said. Executive Director, Operations and Maintenance, BMRCL, A S Shankar said that 171 additional trips were run on the East-West Line while 123 trips were run on the North-South Line overall.