Bangalore: Extension of Metro north-south corridor approved

Bengaluru, Oct 23: The State Government on Tuesday, Oct 21 approved a proposal from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) to extend the metro links till Hessaraghatta Cross Road (Tumkur Road) in the north and Jaraganahalli (Kanakapura Road) in the south and at a cost of Rs. 510 crore and Rs. 1,082 crore respectively.

Both the extensions fall under Namma Metro's north-south Corridor, which, as per the original plan, should have terminated at Yeshwanthpur and R V Road Terminal respectively. BMRCL had requested the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to undertake a feasibility study on the proposed extension, which in turn submitted a detailed project report saying the extension was feasible. The extension of the corridor on the north till Hessaraghatta Cross Road would cater to vast number of people in the industrial suburb of Peenya and other establishments on either side of the busy Bangalore-Tumkur Road, BMRCL had told the Government. As per the DPR, the 5.6 km extended line on this stretch would have six stations with a connecting line to the depot-cum-workshop at Peenya.

The extension is likely to cost Rs. 1,082 crore, funding of which is divided between the Centre and the State Government. The financing structure is as follows — 30 per cent equity by both the governments on completion cost with taxes (Rs. 324 crore); 10 per cent subordinate debt by the Centre (Rs. 108 crore); 15 per cent subordinate debt by the State Government (Rs. 162 crore) and 45 per cent term debt from Indian banks (Rs. 488 crore).

On the southern side, this corridor was to terminate at R V Road Terminal as per the original plan.

However, BMRCL felt that if the line was extended up to the Outer Ring Road, off Banashankari, the metro could cater to still larger number of people.

The 3.106 km extension from R V Road Terminal to Jaraganahalli on Kanakapura Road would serve densely-populated areas such as Banashankari, Jayanagar and J.P. Nagar with traffic integration at Banashankari with Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation.

The completion cost of this extension comes to Rs. 510 crore and will be shared between both the Governments as done for the Hessaraghatta Cross extension. BMRCL and the State Government was also considering approaching the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation, which was the prime lender for the original project, to finance the extension through senior term debt.

OneIndia News