Metro will chug into commercial tower

Metro will chug into commercial tower
Yeddyurappa Lays Foundation Stone For Sampige Road Station Under PPP Model
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: It’s yet another feather in Bangalore’s cap. This will be the only city in the country where the Metro train will stop at a swanky commercial tower with a spacious parking basement for cars, close to a huge mall.
The Sampige Road station at Malleswaram will be the only station of the 33 elevated ones under Metro’s phase I (to be completed by March 2013) to have such a plan. Passengers who get down at this station will have direct access to the tower and Mantri Mall on Sampige Road. With a 20-month deadline, this is also Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation’s (BMRC) first project to be taken up under public-private partnership (PPP) in the city.
Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa who laid the foundation stone for the project on Thursday, said: “This is the first PPP project for Bangalore Metro. Such initiatives should help in completion of projects on time. This is most important for a city like Bangalore that’s rapidly expanding.”
Apart from the local MLA and MPs from Bangalore North and Central, newly elected corporators of Malleswaram attended the event.
THE PPP WAY
BMRC has acquired 5 acres, 4 guntas of land for this station. This is from the total 24-acre land that belongs to Mantri Developers. As per the PPP arrangement, the land is being provided free of cost for constructing the station. The 80,000-sqft station at an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore will be constructed by Mantri Developers. This, as part of its project of an 8-lakh sqft commercial tower surrounding the station. The station will be designed by the BMRC.
Compensation to the private partner is the right to use the space surrounding the station ‘with due regard to safety norms’ for 99 years. During this period, the BMRC is also entitled to revenue share of 1% initially to 5% in the later stages.