Bengaluru: Need Rs 1,400 crore to kickstart suburban rail project, says K-RIDE

BENGALURU: The city’s longpending demand for suburban rail is unlikely to be fulfilled in the near future with Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Development Enterprises (K-RIDE), the special purpose vehicle mandated to execute the Rs 18,600 crore project, saying it requires at least Rs 1,400 crore to get the project started.
The development comes at a time when the Centre has made a paltry allocation of Rs 1 crore for the project this year. While K-RIDE said it’s in talks with financial institutions to fund the project, the railway ministry maintained there will be no delay. “We propose to invest 5% of the construction cost and 50% of the land cost in the first financial year (2020-21), which is around Rs 1,400 crore, for the project to take off,” said K-RIDE managing director Amit Garg on Saturday.
The project is funded 20% each by the state and Centre and 60% through external loans. It remains to be seen what amount that will be allocated in the state budget. Garg said they are in talks with financial institutions like World Bank, ADB, JICA, AIIB and Korea Eximbank (KEXIM).
Meanwhile, minister of state for railways Suresh Angadi said the project will not be delayed, but refused to provide a time frame.
Asked about the delay in getting clearance from the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs for the project that was announced in 2018-19 budget, he said, “Karnataka had a coalition government at that time. The Rs 1 crore allocated in the Pink Book is a token amount...The Karnataka CM has assured that a significant amount will be allocated in the state budget.”