BENGALURU: The Phase-3 of Bengaluru Metro is now pegged to cost Rs 16,041 crore, as per the revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted to the Centre by the state government by June-end.
Consultancy firm Rail India Technical and Economic Services Limited (RITES) has submitted the revised project to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), bringing down the originally proposed cost by Rs 287 crore.
The project, sent by the state to the Centre in February this year, was supposed to be approved well before the Assembly elections, but that did not materialise. With the Centre seeking multiple clarifications on the DPR submitted to it by the state and asking the cost to be revisited due to some technical specifications, RITES reworked on it for the last eight months and has come out with this revised version, said a Metro official. “There is no change in the route alignment. The escalation component usually calculated for the rolling stock (5% annually) has been removed as recommended by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA),” the official said.
The state government had approved the project on November 18, 2022, at a cost of Rs 16,328 crore, with a 20% share each to be borne by the state and the Centre, and the remaining 60% to be mobilised through external borrowings. Both the governments had to pay Rs 2,526 crore each. “Due to the removal of the rolling stock escalation aspect, the Centre’s cost will now have this significant reduction,” he said.
As per the DPR, Phase-3 will run up to 44.65 km and comprise two elevated corridors with 31 Metro stations. Corridor One will run for 32.15 km along the west of Outer Ring Road from J P Nagar IVth phase to Kempapura with 22 stations. It will be connected with the Airport Line. Corridor Two will run from Hosahalli to Kadabgere on Magadi Road for 12.5 km and will have nine stations. There will be intersections with other Metro lines at five stations.
“BMRCL is examining the revised DPR. In all likelihood, it will be approved by us. It will be submitted to MoHUA next week,” said a source. The project will require 113 acres of land, of which 85% will be government land. It had a deadline of 2028. Traffic estimates said it would carry 9.12 lakh passengers daily by 2051.