BENGALURU: The Embassy Group will develop the Kadubeesanahalli Metro station, which figures in the new 17-km KR Puram-Silk Board Metro line, at a cost of `100 crore. An MoU was inked on Friday between the Embassy Group and the Bangalore Metro Rail Coporation Ltd, said a release.
“This is the first corporate to sign an agreement under the Public-Private Partnership,” the release said.
The new line set to cost `4,202 crore is being taken up under Phase 2A of the Metro network. It will have 13 stations that cover the entire Outer Ring Road. The construction will be done in accordance with the facade designs and specifications approved by BMRCL, it added. “Embassy has agreed to pay an amount of `100 crore in installments to BMRCL for the purpose. The period of concession and permission granted to Embassy Group will be for 30 years starting from the date of commencement of commercial operations and could be extended further on mutual terms,” the release said.
As part of the agreement, Embassy will maintain Kadubeesanahalli Metro Station, including housekeeping. There will be access directly to the Metro station from Embassy Tech Village and a dedicated access from the exit point of the station.
The group can utilise pre-determined spaces for advertisements. The group can also use the leasable retail space measuring approximately 3,000 sqft at the metro station.
Pradeep Singh Kharola, Managing Director of BMRCL said, “The MoU signed between BMRCL and the Embassy Group is part of the innovative financing push by Namma Metro.”
Kannada groups protest against Hindi signs
Members of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike along with other Kannada organisations on Friday staged a protest in front of BMRCL office, demanding that signboards in Hindi be removed from across all Metro stations within a week. They also urged the state government to do away with the three-language policy and stick to two languages.
They gave a letter to BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola, who had a meeting with protesters. Kharola said the demands would be forwarded to the Central government for a reply, based on which further action would be taken. A few days ago, Bengalureans started a Twitter campaign #Namma Metro HindiBeda, against the use of Hindi on signboards at Metro stations. More than 10 lakh responded from across the state, with many weighing in on what they felt was an imposition of Hindi in a local commuter transit system.