BENGALURU: The State cabinet on Wednesday decided to go ahead with the ambitious Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) around Bengaluru by calling global tenders in a couple of months, and will hand over the project to private parties to be executed under the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) model.
The government had earlier allocated funds to Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) to take up the project, but that had not worked. The BDA, which will liaison on the land acquisition process and become the owner of the property after 50 years of lease period, will be liable for revenue sharing from the toll collection. “We will negotiate for 10 to 15 per cent of the revenue generated every year. But the toll fee will be negotiated to fix a reasonable price to help users, including transporters,” said BDA Chairman S R Vishwanath, Yelahanka BJP MLA.
“As land acquisition was a daunting task, costing Rs 5,000 crore or so, it was decided bring in private parties to execute the project. But they can collect the toll for 50 years,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy told reporters after the cabinet approved the project.Land acquisition could be done in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directives to go with old rates and also negotiate with the farmers, he added. Some farmers had moved the SC, seeking the 2018 guidance value.
Mega project
The 100m wide road along a 71-km stretch connects Hosur Road to Tumakuru Road, and requires over 2,500 acres of land to be acquired, linking its eastern, northeastern and southeastern parts of Bengaluru. As per plan, it is an eight-lane road, excluding the service roads on either side, and also connects to NICE Ring Road.