Bengaluru: The Peripheral Ring Road (PRR), stretching 65-km connecting Tumakuru road and Hosur road, which was put in backburner for over a decade, is getting a new lease of life.
Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George on Thursday assured to execute the ambitious and mega project by setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). During the meeting with BDA officials he directed officials to constitute a committee comprising 15 board members. The members are yet to be finalized.
Fortunately for city and BDA which is reeling under financial crunch, the state got an assurance from Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to foot 50 per cent of the project cost. Mr George directed officials to constitute an SPV with or without the financial support from the Centre. The project is likely to cost over Rs 12,000 crore, including land acquisition.
The project, planned in 2005, was aimed at reducing traffic impact in the city and on the Outer Ring Road. The 65 km long road provides connectivity to Tumakuru road (from T Dasarahalli), Doddaballapur road, Ballari road, Old Madras road, Sarjapura road and Hosur road where it meets NICE road. Mahendra Jain, Additional chief secretary, urban development department said, “The city development minister has given his nod to set up SPV to execute the PRR project. The minister directed us to go ahead and form the SPV with our without Centre’s involvement,” he said.
But BDA also has already mooted the plan to increase the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) around 1.5 km radius along the route to encourage real estate developers and to gain financially from it. The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) has been roped in by state government to help get the finances from Centre and state for the SPV. The proposed six-lane expressway will be a toll road, sources said. The SPV will take care of the land acquisition as well as the project execution.
However, farmers have been opposing the project as it has been delayed inordinately.
