Bengaluru: Indicating further delay in the completion of first phase of Metro Rail, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that the stretch would be fully functional by April 2017 and not November 2016 as indicated earlier.
He said that under Phase–II, the Metro will connect Central Silk Board junction with K.R. Puram, making commuting easier for over 10 lakh passengers.
After meeting officials of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Rail Corporation Ltd, he said that the Rs 3,500 crore project would be executed on priority and completed in the next two years to decongest the stretch.
While Metro Phase II as a whole was expected to cost Rs 26,000 crore, the Silk Board to K.R. Puram stretch would be funded through money raised by auctioning of Metro land, he revealed.
Also, work on the 16 km stretch between Electronic City and Whitefield could begin soon as tenders are expected to be floated under Metro II phase by end of September. The civil work for this stretch of the Metro will begin immediately, according to the chief minister.
