Bengaluru: Infrastructure Development Minister MB Patil said on Friday that the works of BSRP (Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project) corridor-2 between Benniganahalli and Chikkabanavara (25.01 km) will be completed within the set deadline of the next 26 months.
He was speaking while he reviewed the progress of works along with minister KJ George visiting several locations on the stretch with K-RIDE and IDD officials. He began his inspection at Lingarapuram and moved on to Shampura where he reviewed the ongoing railway over-bridge work. Later he visited Hebbala and examined the construction of the station. Finally, he visited Yeshawantapura where he flagged off the concrete work. In Yashawantapura he also visited a quality test lab. MLA Muniratna was also present.
‘The BSRP project which runs parallel to the existing southwestern railway lines has its challenges. However, these will be resolved to ensure completion of the project within 26 months,” he stated.
Minister said that the officials have been instructed to work towards completing the works related to all four corridors by 2026. Even if it gets delayed due to some unforeseen reasons the project would be ready by 2028, he added.
Railway land of about 157 acres required for the has been leased from South Western Railways and the existing encroachments and structures on Railway land are being removed. Private land of about 5.11 acres required for laying of tracks etc. has been
acquired. Govt. land of about 2.72 acres has been acquired out of the total 7.73 acres. Defence land of about 7.38 acres is required at three locations Jalahalli, Nagawara, and CQAE near Yeswanthpur. Working permission / in principle approval has been obtained for these three locations from Defence Authorities. Physical possession is yet to be handed over to KRIDE, Patil explained.
So far, 10-15% of work has been achieved related to corridor 2 and ground works will be over in the next 10 months. The ongoing RUB (Railway Under Bridge) at Shampura will also be completed by then, he added.
After this works related to Corridor 3 between Bengaluru- Devanahalli Airport and Corridor 4 between Kengeri- Whitefield will be taken up. Apart from this, a proposal has been sent to extend the BSRP to Chikkaballapura, Mysuru, Magadi, Tumakuru, Gowribidanuru, Kolara, and Hosuru. If this gets approved the BSRP would expand to a length of 452 km. He said that approval has been sought from Railways Department to conduct a pre-feasibility study regarding this.
Tenders have been invited to construct 12 stations under EPC mode (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) along the stretch of corridor 2 and the tender process will be finalised on Aug. 31, he said.
The tender process for civil works of corridor 4 has also been over and bidders will be awarded the works soon. Supply of the first batch of 10 trains will begin in Oct. 2025, he informed.
The total project cost is Rs.15,767 crore and the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who had announced SPV for the project in 2013 has now allocated Rs.1,000 crore in the recent budget. A loan of Rs. 7,438 crore will be availed from KfW of Germany, European Investment Bank and Luxembourg. The signing for this will be done in the coming December. Tenders for works of corridors 1 and 3 will be invited after this, he told. Gourav Gupta, ACS, IDD and others were present.
