BETL delayed

Electronics City-B'lore road project delayed
BS Reporter / Mumbai June 13, 2008, 18:46 IST

The much awaited Rs 675 crore elevated road project on Hosur Road connecting Electronics City to Bangalore is delayed by six months.

The cause for the delay is being attributed to two reasons. One - litigation with a private land owner and the second, IT companies pressing for additional ramps to connect Electronics City phase I and II, which is situated on the opposite sides of the main Hosur Road.

"The elevated road project which began in July 2006 had to be completed in two and a half years, but now is being stretched to close to three years and will become operational only by January 2009," C S Bansal, director, Maytas Infra, the company which is executing this project.

Without mentioning quantity of loss due to delay, Bansal said "We plan to approach both state and central government to give relief by way of extending the concession period, currently fixed at 20 years, as delay is due to external factors."

The elevated road project tendered out by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) under build- operate- transfer (BOT) basis is to ease traffic congestion on the busy Hosur road which connects Electronic City, a hub for IT companies to Bangalore city.

The Rs 674 crore project is being executed through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) - Bangalore Elevated Tollway (BETL) created by the joint venture partners involving Maytas Infra, Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) and Soma Enterprises (SEL)