BMRCL Signs 1st MoU to Fund ORR Line with Embassy Group

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd on Friday signed its first memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Embassy Group to fund the construction of its new 17 km Outer Ring Road Line between Silk Board and KR Puram. Rs 100 crores from this tie-up will be used to directly fund the Kadubeesanahalli Station’s construction which is planned to come up right in front of the Embassy Tech Village.

The line’s Detailed Project Report was prepared by BMRCL in 2016 who estimates its construction & system procurement to cost Rs 4202 crores. Instead of relying on foreign lenders, the BMRCL plans to fund this line through what it calls an ‘innovative financing model’ in which private entities are currently being engaged to pitch in anywhere from 25% to 50% of the line’s construction cost and in return be granted exclusive advertising and leasing rights within the stations to monetize on their investment.

Kadubeesanahalli Station’s proposed location identified in the DPR versus satellite view –

Location of Kadubeesanahalli Station

13 stations on this route are planned at KR Puram (interchange with the upcoming Purple Line’s extension to Whitefield), Mahadevpura, DRDO Sports Complex, Doddanakundi, ISRO, Marathahalli, Kodbisanahalli, Kadubeesanahalli, Bellandur, Ibbalur, Agara Lake, HSR Layout and Silk Board (interchange with the upcoming RV Road – Bommasandra line).

Here’s the mid section of the line which includes Kadubeesanahalli Station –

To see the exact locations of other stations along the route, see the DPR and comments section of this post.

As per the TOI

Embassy will maintain Kadubeesanahalli Metro Station including housekeeping and maintenance along with all the equipment as per specifications laid by the corporation. There will be a ramp access directly to the Metro station from Embassy TechVillage, and a dedicated access from the exit point of the station. The private stakeholder will be entitled to utilize the pre-determined spaces for advertisements. Embassy can also use the leasable retail space measuring approximately 3000 sq.ft at the metro station and have the advantage of leveraging the linear zone of 250 m around the Kadubeesanahalli metro station. The construction will be done in accordance with the facade designs and specifications approved by BMRCL. Embassy has agreed to pay the amount in installments. The period of concession and permission granted to the real estate company for 30 years starting from the date of commencement of commercial operations and could be extended further on mutual terms.

A MoU is essentially a non-binding agreement, but this is a good start for a funding model that has never been tested to this extent in the past. If this commitment materializes, then the BMRCL will still need to secure another Rs. 1000 to 2000 crores. Here’s a table from the DPR which lists out different funding scenarios –

For more updates, check out the Bangalore section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG

written by

Global traveler who prefers mass rapid transit

42 Responses to "BMRCL Signs 1st MoU to Fund ORR Line with Embassy Group"

  1. Shashidharv says:

    Excellent Move.
    More Companies should come forward and adopt the stations which would provide exclusive entrance to their premises

    Reply
    • Sangamesh Bulla says:

      Yeah, I agree in the Silk Board to KR Puram lines, there are many IT companies tech parks and High Profile Business Groups. They Should fund towards the growth which indirectly helping their employess

      Reply
  2. chandan says:

    Really very good plan huge traffic will be reduced ….

    Instead of relying on foreign lenders private company can fund and take advantage of the station … like Embassy more MNC company should come forward…

    The Only way to reduce TRAFFIC in Bangalore …….

    Reply
  3. KRISHNAN says:

    ORR road has maximum traffic , nearly 10 lakh vehicles a day. The Metro train is certainly needed here.
    Do you think work can start in Jan 2018 or earlier .?
    As the entire stretch is elevated with very less land acquisition , probably it can be build with in 3 years itself.Even bringing huge pre fabricated pieces from other places is easy as roads are 6 lane wide.

    Reply
    • Akshay Mathur says:

      I don’t think that work can start before 2020. There are a lot of hurdles to be crossed. However, if BMRCL has learned its lessons (and sign are that it has), then it is a good thing that they will start construction in 2020. This means that they have cleared all the legal and technical hurdles BEFORE starting construction and then getting stuck.

      Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Krishnan – Jan 2018 is impossible due to the tendering process, but work can definitely start in 2018 if the state government somehow agrees to kickstart work without achieving financial closure. At this point, I haven’t seen any indications they’ll do that though. I believe they’d like to secure a certain amount of external funding before inviting bids.

      Reply
  4. Manjunath says:

    Embassy tech village is owned by KJ George who is the current bangalore development minister so by easily they got the proposal & i wish other real estate agencies to com forward the funding where there is no political involvement which is good for BMRCL.

    Reply
  5. Karthik Kanniyappan says:

    Its an excellent move towards public and private partnership .. There are so many innovative ways.. Every Malls and Big Office spaces connected through Metro services.. Metro offering free land for commercials purposes for these in place of Big fundings .. May be we will never fall short of funds for bringing more metro services to the city .

    Reply
  6. Abboy Shankar E L says:

    First and last mile connectivity can be ensured by a unique cycle hiring method also, upon subscription and payment of a deposit of value of one cycle which is refundable in full without any deduction or addition, every subscriber should get a e-card which he deposits to hire a cycle, this can be with him or her till return and collecting the e-card, one can take the metro while going to office, get down in the station near to his office, take cycle by depositing the e-card and go to office, in the return direction he surrenders the cycle collects the card and in the station near to his house he again collects the cycle to get back home and come back to use the metro next day, all cycles should be uniform type and maintenance by metro for routine problems, eco friendly and healthy for the user

    Reply
  7. Mahesh Holla says:

    Is it possible to get user funded programme,like it happens in religious places construction once completed bmrcl can give funders complimentary metro pass or other way of paying back the money or name would be carved in station as patrons.Looks good we have seen movies,religious places construction funded by public.Some people might say we are paying tax but we dont know where would our tax exactly goes in scheme of things, but these kind of funding would be really good fund raiser with tax benefit…

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Quite possible. The idea of floating tax-free bonds has been discussed for Delhi’s metro system. The other option is the IPO route, but I’m not sure how successful that would be.

      Reply
  8. Santosh says:

    They have stopped phase2 project and started this. Phase 2 would have eased the traffic a lot. The roads are narrow in phase2 section. This would have been a relief.

    Reply
  9. George Jacob says:

    Any initiative
    that would further the reach of Metro should be explored and supported….But can we have some good architecture for these stations please….Not the badly engineered and detailed and built shabby ones we have so far

    Reply
  10. Soumith says:

    When will the construction of yellow line start ??

    Reply
  11. krishnan says:

    Hi TMRG
    I went to see the new line today (26.6.2017)and want to share the below observations

    1. if one person gets down at Majestic , it is very difficult to locate the Metro station .We have to walk about half Km to reach the station.If we have a over bridge at majestic then easily one more lakh people will start using Metro. Basically one side of metro station is like half done.The entrance near KSRC has lot of pending work. A few more signage are needed near BMRC to show the way
    BMRCL was running trains today at 15 min gap . This was creating huge crowed near Majestic

    Lot of women and small children are traveling to see the metro .They are getting crushed in the crowd

    2. In KR Market ,

    Again some out side work is pending , we don’t have clear directions outside the station. I wanted to walk to KR market bus stop but had to relay on google map instead.

    I hope these will get sorted out in 6 months ,once all the pending work of phase 1 is done and we get some 6 coaches trains .

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Thanks for the ground report 🙂

      Life would be so much easier if the authorities build proper walkways around stations or even FoBs outside BYP Station or Alandur Station in Chennai etc, but operators often forget that station access is an important part of the overall travel experience.

      Displaying signage leading to other transport options is a basic transit requirement, but then again the operators don’t give a damn.

      Do report back in 6 months. I’d like to know what happens.

      Reply
  12. Parthasarathy S says:

    Good start. Long way to go!

    Reply
  13. Harish says:

    Hi TMRG,

    Do we have any updates regarding the Metro line from Silk board to Bommasandra ?

    I can see few dug-ups done between Ecity junction and Hosa Road junction. But I’m not sure if that is for the pillars as the dug-ups seems similar to the ones that was done for soil testing (not sure why soil testing being done again if it is the case). Also it is done very close to electric lines.

    Thanks,
    Harish

    Reply
    • Gyan Roy says:

      Near White Feather, opposite PES College, they are digging the earth using drill machines. I don’t think that drill machines will be used for soil testing purposes. Also, saw a lot of cranes were trying to flatten the land near Electronic City phase-2 for the metro. Small areas are being dug near d-mart and infosys, which either is a place holder for pillars or for soil testing. All, in all looks like construction work has started in Hosa Road Bommasandra section.

      Reply
      • TMRG says:

        Gyan – If you saw a tripod (like shown here and here) and those are for soil testing. To answer Harish’s question – contractors often perform their own soil testing to re-validate the operator’s findings.

        If you saw a bigger machine (like shown here and here), then that’s definitely for piling work – in order to build a strong foundation for each pier.

        Reply
  14. Manikantan says:

    Excellent work by the Karnataka Govt

    Reply
  15. Manikantan says:

    Traffic mess will drastically come down

    Reply
  16. Syed Khaja says:

    Hi TMRG, “approval information” needs to be corrected in your Bangalore metro’s information page. For ORR metro.

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi, I just updated it.
      Operational – PH1
      U/C – R1A/B + R2A/B + R3C + R4B + R5-P1/2
      Approved – R5-P3 + R6 (elevated) + UG(P1/2/3/4) + ORR Line
      Proposed – 102 km minus 17 km ORR line

      Reply
  17. Aakanksha A says:

    Hi TMRG,

    Is there any update on metro near Brookfield area. I have seen they are diverting the traffic, but not sure about the progress.

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      For the ORR Line? Bidding for its construction hasn’t started yet.
      For the Purple Line’s extension – mostly demolition and barricading is underway in that area.

      Reply
  18. PradeepPrakash says:

    TMRG, Can you please clarify where exactly is the Mahadevapura station coming up? A station soon after KR Puram interchange is that needed?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      I’ve mapped out its exact location, based on BMRCL’s documents, over here. I don’t see an issue with its proximity to KR Puram.

      Reply
      • PradeepPrakash says:

        Thanks a lot. When you think the work would most likely to start? Next year?

        Reply
        • TMRG says:

          Depends on when they have a certain amount of funding in place. Since this 1st MoU in June, they haven’t’ signed up with any other firm. Talks are on.

          Reply
  19. Syed Khaja says:

    Hi TMRG. Can we get to know the estimate numbers of approvals/clearances to start metro civil work? i.e ph2A ORR(Silk Board-KRPuram) or ph2A (Nagawara – airport) metro?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Phase 2A has the state govt’s approval. They just need to secure funds. As of Sept 1, so far only 1 MoU has been signed (the one above) for Rs.100 with another Rs. 1000-2000 to go.

      Phase 2B’s DPR first has to be created. Then it’ll require the state govt’s cabinet approval. If they need central assistance, then they’ll need to get PPP and other mobility plans in place as stated in the new metro rail policy.

      Reply
  20. Parikhit says:

    I remember reading the deadline for ORR Metro is 2020 and truth be told I do not see any work going on except at Silk Board which I think is the yellow line to E-City and at K R Puram for purple line till Whitefield. Is BMRCL’s plan to complete the ORR Metro by 2020 far-fetched? Could it be a typo error (2030 and not 2020!)

    Given the current state of affairs 3 years is whimsical and with the complexity of ORR with its network of flyovers, underpasses I do not think so a proper study was undertaken. The flyover at Mahadevpura is not yet complete and it has been more than 2 years that the construction commenced. At this pace can the citizens be optimistic about the 2020 deadline?

    Reply
  21. Hemant says:

    They should have more stations on ORR line, even if they are nearer by metro standards. It will benefit IT park workers and also keep the ORR and sidewalk free of too much crowd. RMZ and BMRC should tie up to provide metro station at RMZ ecospace+ ecoworld + Intel. A direct entry exit ramp too. I am sure the 30 odd companies in this tech park will also be able to contribute something. This will zero out traffic mess on main road with vehicles and pedestrians everywhere. Also one station at the prestige tech park and one at bagmane park. ORR metro should be prioritized over say BIEC extension. This line will be cash cow for BMRC

    Reply

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