BENGALURU: The Bangalore Development Authority has recently submitted a proposal to the State Government to implement the Rs 21,091 crore Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project a Private Public Partnership (PPP) model. The project, which is aimed at decongesting the city, was conceived 16 years ago.
Last year, the 65.5 km project was upgraded to 73 km with eight lanes and four service lanes. It is supposed to come up on 1,810 acres of land in three taluks of Bengaluru--North, Bengaluru East and Anekal. It will start from Tumkur Road at NICE Road Junction and end at Hosur Road on NH-44.
A senior BDA official told TNIE that the Authority had recommended giving the project on a 50-year lease to the bidder so that it helps them recover the investment costs. The BDA had recommended it to be implemented as a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer Project by the bidder, he said.
“The Request for Proposal bid and the Concessionnaire Agreement has been submitted to the government,” he added. Confirming the receipt of the proposal, a top government official said, “It has now been sent to the Law Department, the Finance Department and the CM, who is in charge of the city, for their consent. The Cabinet will announce its decision in its next meeting.”
Another BDA official said, “The biggest stumbling block the project faced was the land acquisition cost which accounted for the lion’s share of the cost. Due to the revised compensation for land acquisition for projects in place in Karnataka, this cost presently comes to nearly Rs 15,475 crore,” he explained. “Toll collection, advertisement revenue and rent from constructed facilities near the toll plaza could be the revenue sources for the bidder,” the official added.
The interest shown by two groups, APCI Freeway Pvt Limited (a consortium of Israel’s SYMBA-MAZ, Afcons and Vishwa Samudram) and IOTC Group, have also been elaborated. The JAICA, which funds massive infrastructure projects across India, was earlier ready to fund construction cost but not for land acquisition.