Bengaluru: The Peripheral Ring Road (PRR), which envisages connectivity for Bengaluru, has got a fresh lease of life, thanks to the interest shown by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. However, the state may be reduced to just a facilitator for the project as a central agency like NHAI may be given responsibility to execute it.
Although BDA was pipped to carry out the project, with viability gap funding from the Centre, the Central Ministry may push for its arm NHAI, said sources.
As the first phase of PRR, covering 65 kms, intersects national highways like Hosur Road, Tumkur Road, Bengaluru International Airport, Kanakapura Road and Old Madras Road and Mysore Road, it is likely that the NHAI may take up the project. A three-member committee comprising Additional Chief secretary (ACS) to chief minister, D.N. Narismha Raju and ACS (Urban development department) T. M. Vijay Bhaskar, along with union secretary of Road Transport and Highways, has been formed to submit a report on the ways and means to carry out the project. Since the cost of the project was estimated at Rs 11,950 crore, including the land acquisition, the cash- strapped BDA had sought financial assistance from the state, which in turn had requested the Centre.
