BENGALURU: The Bangalore Development Authority has cancelled its earlier tender notification issued for the Dr K Shivarama Karantha Layout nearly and will be issuing a fresh notification this week. This is due to the cost of the project escalating by over Rs 800 crore presently, said a senior BDA official. In a boost for the project, it has recently received environmental clearance.
The BDA had earlier called for tenders on March 21 to the tune of Rs 1,865.34 crore for the layout in the form of nine separate contracts. It had a deadline of April 25 for the bids and it stands cancelled now.
A senior BDA official told TNIE, "The new Schedule of Rates (SR) issued by the Public Works Department for 2022 for all construction projects has hiked the standard rates to be paid for all raw materials and labour. As a result, the original estimated cost of Rs 4,530 crore for Dr Shivarama Karantha Layout has shot up to Rs 5,337 crore. Hence we have decided to cancel the earlier tender notification and call for a new one."
The BDA has sent the revised document with the escalated project cost to the State government for its approval on April 16, the official said. "We are awaiting the government nod for it very shortly. Our new tender document is almost ready and we will go ahead with its release after a Government Order on the new rates is issued," he added.
The layout intends to create 33,000 sites spread across 2935 acres and 12 guntas in 17 villages lying between Doddaballapur and Hesarghatta. It was originally proposed to be readied across 3546 acres but the entire land is not available for layout formation.
Environmental clearance
The Karanth Layout project has been granted environment clearance by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority. "We got the clearance on April 8. This is a vital step in taking the project forward," the official said.
Civic Amenity sites, Sewage Treatment Plants and a crematorium will be among the facilities made available for residents, he added.