Works of Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP) corridor-2 between Benniganahalli and Chikkabanavara (25.01 km) will be completed within the set deadline of the next 26 months, while officials have been instructed to work towards completing the works related to all four corridors by 2026, Infrastructure Development Minister M.B. Patil said on Friday. Even if the project gets delayed due to some unforeseen reasons it would be ready by 2028, he added.
He was speaking while reviewing the progress of works along with Minister K.J. George and officials. He began his inspection at Lingarapuram and moved on to Shampura where he reviewed the ongoing railway over-bridge work. Later he visited Hebbal and examined the construction of the station. Finally, he visited Yeshwanthpur where he flagged off the concrete work, according to a release.
“The BSRP project which runs parallel to the existing southwestern railway lines has its challenges. However, these will be resolved to ensure completion of the project within 26 months,” he stated.
“Railway land of about 157 acres required for the project and it has been leased from South Western Railways and the existing encroachments and structures on Railway land are being removed. Private land of about 5.11 acres required for laying of tracks etc. has been acquired. Government land of about 2.72 acres has been acquired out of the total 7.73 acres. Defence land of about 7.38 acres is required at three locations Jalahalli, Nagawara, and CQAE near Yeshwanthpur. Working permission approval has been obtained for these three locations from defence authorities. Physical possession is yet to be handed over to Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited (KRIDE)”, Mr. Patil explained.
So far, 10% to 15% of work has been achieved related to corridor-2 and ground works will be over in the next 10 months. The ongoing Railway Under Bridge (RUB) at Shampura will also be completed by then. After this, works related to Corridor-3 between Bengaluru-Devanahalli airport and Corridor-4 between Kengeri-Whitefield will be taken up.
Apart from this, a proposal has been sent to extend the BSRP to Chikkaballapura, Mysuru, Magadi, Tumakuru, Gowribidanur, Kolar, and Hosur. If this gets approved, the BSRP would expand to a length of 452 k.m., he said, adding that approval has been sought from Railways Department to conduct a pre-feasibility study regarding this.
Tenders have been invited to construct 12 stations under EPC mode (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) along the stretch of corridor-2 and the tender process will be finalised on August 31. The tender process for civil works of corridor-4 has also been over and bidders will be awarded the works soon. Supply of the first batch of 10 trains will begin in October 2025, he said.
The total project cost is ₹15,767 crore and the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who had announced SPV for the project in 2013 has now allocated ₹1,000 crore in the recent budget. A loan of ₹ 7,438 crore will be availed from the KfW Development Bank of Germany, European Investment Bank, and Luxembourg. The signing for this will be done in the coming December. Tenders for works of corridors 1 and 3 will be invited after this, Mr. Patil added.
