25 companies keen on pitching in

25 companies keen on pitching in
The Times of India

Bangalore: With he Bangalore Metro Rail project all set to pick up pace, the final nitty-gritty is being worked out by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation.

So far, 25 companies have expressed interest for the project, of which 15 have foreign partners. This is only for the elevated portions of the project. Of these, 12 firms are shortlisted and the names will be announced on March 20. Only those selected will be eligible to participate in civil works. The selected party will get 15 days to mobilise resources and only after that project will go ahead.

The BMRC will appoint general consultants, for which nine global consortiums have come forward. “We are shortlisting five of them. Since cost for the general consultants will be borne by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the terms of reference to be adopted have been referred to them. We expect them to complete their perusal and get back to us by the month-end,’’ BMRC MD K N Shrivastava said.

The general consultants will be selected by May-end, who will then take over the project. BMRC will only prove funds and logistics. The general consultants will need three months to start work in full vigour — latest by September.
As for land acquisition, Shrivastava explained that 102 acres of central government land has already been obtained and the 26-acre land from National Power Corporation Limited (NPCL) has been paid for. Another four acres of HAL land will be available in the next 15 days. The state government’s share of 57 acres will be transferred after the cabinet approval.

The project requires 27 acres of private land, which is being acquired by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board. The government had issued a notification on January 17 and personal hearing was held on March 6. “We have to speed up the final notification. The joint measurement will be completed in 20 days’’. Further, we will get legal rights. Our effort is to award sufficient compensation so that no one is aggrieved,’’ Shrivastava said.

As for objections from residents, shop owners and traders of CMH Road, he said the Justice Shivshankar Bhat panel has already heard their views and sought that of BMRC too. A final decision will be taken by the government after the report is submitted by the month-end.

THE NITTY-GRITTY OF LOAN & OTHER COSTS

According to BMRC, the project costs Rs 6,300 cr, of which Rs 1,800 cr will be given by the state government and Rs 1,500 cr by the Centre. The balance Rs 3,000 cr is being taken as loan.

The loan break-up: The Japan Bank for International Cooperation will provide Rs 1,800 crore; the consortium of Indian banks, with UTI Bank as lead fund arrangers, will contribute Rs 1,200 crore. The Centre and the Japanese government will sign an agreement on March 27 or 28. While the JBIC loan is coming at 1.3% interest, it is 8 to 8.5% for loans from Indian banks.

The government has so far collected a cess of Rs 800 cr, of which Rs 400 cr has been transferred to the BMRC.
Arrangements for document preparation and signing for the loan components are being worked out. With funds from the government readily available for the project, the BMRC is expected to draw funds from the loan only after three years of the project.

The standard gauge coaches will be manufactured at the Bharat Earth Movers Limited. Around 270 coaches will be built by 2021 at a cost of Rs 853 cr.

The frequency of trains planned is one service for every three minutes, with each train comprising six coaches.The cost of rolling stock will be 15% cheaper than the Delhi Metro since it is being built indigenously.
Ticket charges will be one-and-ahalf times of the bus fares. On an average, the rates will be between Rs 7 and Rs 15 in 2011 as compared to Delhi Metro’s current fares of Rs 6 and Rs 14.