CHENNAI: With its coffers under pressure and contractor bills piling up, the Greater Chennai Corporation is turning to private investment to develop 30 air-conditioned smart bus shelters and 10 foot-over-bridges (FoBs).
“Both the projects will be taken up under the Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) model and Public Private Partnership (PPP) model respectively, where the concessionaire will invest the entire cost of construction and will get its investment back through advertisement. However, the concessionaire will be subject to paying an annual concession fee and licence fee to the GCC,” corporation commissioner GS Sameeran told TNIE.
Sources said 61 tentative locations have been identified for smart bus shelters and 57 locations for FoBs in coordination with the traffic police and GCC officials. The civic body has floated tenders to appoint consultants to assess the feasibility of these projects.
In the first phase, work on 30 smart bus shelters and 10 FoBs will be taken up based on their importance, passenger and pedestrian movement and commercial potential, an official said. “The final locations will be shortlisted by the consultant following a feasibility study and submitted for GCC’s approval. If another location is found to have greater market potential or better feasibility, it will also be considered.”
The proposed smart bus shelters are expected to offer a range of passenger-friendly facilities, including air-conditioning, CCTV cameras, charging points, drinking water, free Wi-Fi and integration with the intelligent transport system. The CCTVs will be linked to the GCC’s Integrated Command and Control Centre and police systems. Installation of panic buttons is also being examined, sources said.
For the shelters, the consultant will conduct reconnaissance surveys and assess passenger demand, boarding patterns, traffic and pedestrian movement, available space, accessibility, existing bus-stop infrastructure, encroachments, and integration with other transport facilities. The consultant will also assess advertising demand, occupancy, tariffs and market growth and recommend revenue-sharing and other financial terms to make the PPP structure commercially viable.
Similarly, the corporation has also identified 57 tentative locations for FoBs. Preliminary studies, including pedestrian and traffic surveys, black-spot and accident-data analysis among others, have already been completed for 20 locations.
The consultant will carry out detailed assessments of 20 sites before recommending the 10 most feasible locations for development under the PPP model. The FoBs, too, will be developed by leveraging commercial opportunities such as advertising rights and other permitted revenue streams. The consultant is expected to complete the feasibility studies and submit its reports within two months.
As of July 29, the corporation has pending contractor bills worth over `1,929 crore, while anticipated bills during 2026-27 are estimated at `1,505 crore, taking the total liability to `3,435 crore.