BENGALURU:A long-standing dream of the city, the sub-urban rail project, got a boost on Wednesday with the Union Government sanctioning the building of a 160 kilometre-long suburban rail network around Bengaluru at a cost of Rs 17,000 crore.
The announcement came a day after the state cabinet on Tuesday sanctioned an amount of approximately Rs 349 crore or 20% of the project cost of Rs 1,745 crore over a two-year period.The announcement was welcomed by many citizen groups which have been demanding a suburban rail network for the longest time.
With the project receiving approval from both the central and state governments, many are hoping that the next step will be of forming a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which will receive the funds to oversee the project. “It is good that there is finally clarity about developing a 160-km long network. I believe that the project can be fast-tracked by looking at the public-private partnership model instead of the current method,” said urban infrastructure expert V Ravichandar.
According to Sanjeev Dyamannavar, of the citizen advocacy group Praja.in, the announcement by both governments was a positive step. “Work should begin soon now,” he said. However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday criticised the funding model which allots a share of 20% to the state, 20% to the centre and 60% of the total cost to be raised from financing. “The burden of servicing the 60% debt will also fall on the state government,” he said.Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, who is expected to visit the city on Friday and Saturday, is likely to share more details of the project, the department officials said.
