BENGALURU: The cost of completing the 72.1 km Phase-II of Namma Metro will touch Rs 32,000 crore, said Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara at Vidhana Soudha on Friday. The cost of the project in 2012 was estimated to be Rs 26,405 crore.
He was speaking to the media after reviewing the work related to Phase-II of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited.
A top Metro official said that the increase is due to the new Land Acquisition Act which has caused land prices to shoot up for Metro projects of Phase-II to Rs 6,300 crore from the initial projection of Rs 2,000 crore. “The estimate for the project was made in 2012. The project should finish by 2023. So, the overall cost escalation on all fronts and the land acquisition charges will result in the escalation,” he said.
Parameshwara also gave these deadlines for Metro lines: Mysuru Road to Kengeri (Reach 2 extension) and Nagasandra to BIEC (Reach 3C) in 2020; Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield (Reach-1 ext) and R V Road to Bommasandra (Reach 5 new line) in 2021 and Gottigere-Nagavara route (Reach 6 new line) in 2023.
“The cabinet would discuss the proposed Metro line to Bengaluru International Airport soon,” he said. This line is proposed as an extension of the Gottigere-Nagavara route.
Run trains in Phase-II at 2 to 2.5 min frequency
The Deputy Chief Minister also called upon Metro officials to design lines for Phase-II in such a manner that trains can be run at a frequency of 2.5 minutes if not 2 minutes. At present, trains on Phase-II run during peak hours at a frequency of 3.5 minutes on Purple Line (Baiyappanahalli to Mysore Road) and 5 minutes on the Green Line (Nagasandra to Yelachenahalli).
A meeting would be held with the Transport Minister after Diwali to put in place a common mobility card for both BMTC buses and Metro trains, Parameshwara added.