CHENNAI: The state government has granted revised administrative sanction for the construction of a multi-modal facility at the Broadway bus stand along with the Kuralagam buildings at a cost of Rs 822.7 crore at Broadway on Saturday.
The newly-planned complex will have a total of 10 floors — two basements, two floors for bus stand and six-storeys for commercial enterprises. The facility will be designed to accommodate approximately 1,100 buses and will offer seamless access to metro and suburban railway stations.
For the public using the bus stand, there will be multiple entries and exits, paratransit for autos and taxis and a parking facility for 700 cars and 800 two-wheelers. This apart, there will be charging points for electric vehicles, multi-modal integration with CMRL station and Fort suburban station, facility to cross NSC Bose Road and water and toilet facilities, a release from the corporation said.
The state had already granted administrative sanction to build a multi-modal facility complex at Rs 280.85 crore in September 2023. At that time, the plan was to ensure that the complex was easily accessible for those using the metro facility and the CMRL was tasked with execution of the project, its continued maintenance and operation, and also providing appropriate income to the corporation.
However, the Broadway bus stand is located in a place where people can easily access suburban trains to travel to Chengalpattu and Tambaram, metro station and Kuralagam, which is owned by Tamil Nadu Khadi and Village Industries Board (TNKVIB).
Considering this, the government decided to provide the facilities available in these places seamlessly and also ensure easy connectivity. Following this, Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board suggested demolishing the slightly dilapidated Kuralagam building and integrate it with the project to build a bigger bus stand and commercial complex, the release said.
Following this, a proposal for integrated development of multi-modal facility with Kuralagam was sent to the government which has now been cleared. The facility will be built through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) - Chennai Metro Asset Management Limited. It will execute the project, manage assets and take care of the continuous operation and maintenance of the project. The SPV/management associate will be paid a management fee of 1% of the project cost during the construction period and 2.5% of the gross annual revenue.
Under the new plan, the government will provide Rs 200.84 crore as viability gap funding for the project. Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority will provide Rs 115.03 as a soft loan to the corporation with a 10-year moratorium while the remaining Rs 506.83 crore will be given as term loan from the Tamil Nadu Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation.
As per the GO granting administrative sanction, TNKVIB will lease its land to the corporation on a long-term basis for 60 years for a nominal amount of Rs 1 per sqft per annum. TNKVIB will be offered rent-free built-up area amounting to approximately 17,438 sq.ft. for its operations in addition to a share of five per cent net revenues after the term loan is paid by the corporation.
The cost of setting up a temporary bus stand will be borne by the corporation. Broadway bus stand is one of the oldest in the city for which the construction was started in 1960 and completed in 1964.