FM gives green signal to B’lore Metro project

The ambitious Metro rail project in Bangalore may finally take off, with the the finance minister announcing a monetary package for the same...

The ambitious Metro rail project in Bangalore may finally take off, with the the finance minister announcing a monetary package for the same in his Budget.

K.N. Shrivastava, MD, Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Ltd (BMRTL), said initially the government was suppose to fund about Rs 100 crore for the year 2005-06 for this project. ‘‘Now they have said they can increase the amount. We are giving a new proposal for asking Rs 200 crore for this project in this year,’’ he said.

This long-pending project is expected to get the clearance from the Centre by mid-March and the construction is expected to start from first week of May.

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The estimated cost of the project has escalated by a whopping Rs 600 crore in the last 18 months. According to the sources, the estimated cost has gone up to Rs 5,600 crore against the earlier estimation of around Rs 5,000 crore.

BMRTL will get around Rs 3,500 crore from the 46 financial institutions, and the rest will be provided by the state government and Central government over eight-year period. The finance will come at 8.5 per cent for 17-year bank loans and 9 per cent for longer 27-year loans that will mainly be taken from insurance companies and providend funds.

Bangalore Metro rail plan is to take up 23.63 km of elevated track and 6.7 km of underground track under the first phase of the project. It will also have 32 connecting terminals across the city and the trains would ply along two corridors from North-South and East-West.

The project is proposed to be completed in five years, and it would cater to over 8.2 lakh commuters every day after its completion in 2009-2011.