BMRTL commissions survey to study metro rail extensions

BMRTL commissions survey to study metro rail extensions
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Limited (BMRTL) has commissioned a survey to finalise the extensions for metro rail, company managing director K.N. Srivastava said.

The ‘Comprehensive Traffic and Transportation’ survey will be conducted by Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) Limited over a 10-month period.

‘‘We will await the results and plan extensions and new lines to include areas that are hitherto not in the list,’’ Srivastava said. There was a public demand to extend the proposed 7 km Byappanahalli-Chinnaswamy Stadium track to Electronics City and the north-south corridor from Peenya to JP Nagar.

The civil works of the metro rail project would begin in mid-July soon after the final Central clearance from the Project Investment Board is received.

Srivastava told this website’s newspaper that BMRTL had Rs. 230 crore of its own money, would get Rs 109 crore from the Government of Karnataka and about Rs 200 crore from the Government of India. ‘‘We have enough money to begin the project as soon as the approval is given,’’ he added.

The managing director said that of the Rs. 3,000 crore that needs to be raised in the form of loans, Japan Bank of International Co-operation would lend Rs. 1,500 crore. The rest will be raised through Indian-based banks.

UTI Bank which is acting as the lead arranger, has committed to Rs 300 crore. The rest of the money has been collectively committed to by ICICI Bank, Syndicate Bank, Central Bank, Canara Bank, Oriental Bank, State Bank of Mysore, HUDCO, LIC and others.

The total project cost is about Rs 6,250 crore. The first service is scheduled to begin in October 2008.