Bengaluru: Public Works Department (PWD) Minister H.D. Revanna yesterday said that the State Government had acquired 64 percent of the land required for the 10-lane Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway project. The project, once completed, is expected to cut travel time between Bengaluru and Mysuru to 90 minutes from an average three-and-a-half hours.
Replying to MLC Sandesh Nagaraj’s question in the Legislative Council, Revanna said the government will expedite the process of acquiring the remaining 36 percent of the land for the project.
Revanna said that the work has begun from both sides of Bengaluru and Mysuru with line markings where the road will come up. Actual ground work might start after a few weeks. This will be a 10-lane road with a 6-lane carriageway that is tolled while there will be a 2-lane service road on both sides without toll. Toll booths will be set up at Bidadi, Ramanagaram, Channapattana, Maddur, Mandya and Srirangapatna. Users will have to pay only for the distance travelled rather than paying for the entire stretch.
The project is scheduled to be completed in 2020 — that means, the project will be completed in the next 18 months. The project was approved in April 2014 and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had launched it in March this year. The road will have flyovers at Bidadi and Srirangapatna, bypasses at Ramanagaram, Channapattana and Mandya. The total estimated cost for the 117-km road is Rs. 6,400 crore of which Rs. 2,246.71 crore is for land acquisition. The National Highways Authority of India is acquiring 2,200 acres of land for the road.
“The government is also working towards obtaining forest clearances by the next fortnight. It has also been decided to hold monthly review meetings on the progress of the project. The Energy Department was seeking 15 percent of the total project cost for shifting utilities while the NHAI specified that the cost should not exceed more than 2.5 percent of the project cost,” Revanna said.
The work has been divided into two packages — Bengaluru-Nidaghatta (56 km) with an estimated cost of Rs. 1,984 crore and Nidaghatta-Mysuru (61 km) with an estimated cost of Rs. 2,169.29 crore, he said. There will be 50:50 cost-sharing formula between the Centre and the State for the project.
Once completed, the road will be the first in the State to be developed under the new Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) adopted by NHAI. As per this, NHAI will fund just 40 per cent of the total project cost while the remaining 60 per cent will be invested by the contractor or developer. The contractor/investor will get fixed annual revenue while the Highway Authority takes care of the toll collection.
This post was published on July 11, 2018 6:43 pm