BMRCL – BIAL – Embassy Sign MoU for Bangalore Metro’s Airport Line
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. today signed two signficant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreements to develop Bangalore Metro’s 37 km Airport Line (Line-5 / Blue Line) which will link Kempegowda International Airport to KR Puram Station through 17 stations as part of the Bangalore Metro Phase 2B project.
The first MoU was signed with Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) to develop a roughly 4.5 km mostly-at grade section within the airport’s property. Bids for this section’s construction were invited in July and the last date for submission was recently moved to October 16. Bids for the two stations – Sky Garden & KIA Terminals (partially underground) – are yet to be invited.
Although not disclosed, BIAL plans to leverage a User Development Fee (UDF) on departing passengers (Rs 316.76 for international passengers and Rs 79.19 for domestic flyers), as done previously in Delhi and Mumbai, to contribute their portion of the requisite funds. A proposal to levy this fee was sent to the central government in 2017 and its status remains unknown.
BIAL’s full press release can be viewed here. Some relevant excerpts:
BMRCL will construct the Airport Metro section, along with civil, electro-mechanical, other associated facilities, works and related assets, whereas BIAL will develop, manage and maintain the two metro stations that will be located within the Airport boundary.
The two stations within the Airport boundaries are likely to see the daily ridership of 0.6 lakh commuters in 2024, increasing to 1.88 lakh commuters by 2041.
The civil work on the Airport metro section is likely to commence in March 2021. The tenders for the civil works of the 56 km metro viaduct and 30 stations, with estimated cost of over Rs. 3,230 Crores, have already been called in five packages. The work on the first two packages from Central Silk Board Junction to KR Puram are likely to commence in December 2020, and that on the three packages from KR Puram to the Airport are likely to commence in March 2021. The Airport section and the section from Hebbal to the Trumpet Junction will be prioritised.
Almost two-thirds of the 94 acres of the land required for the ORR-Airport Metro has been acquired and handed over to BMRCL. The balance land is mostly for the metro depot near the Trumpet Junction. The shifting of the utilities, namely electricity, water, streetlights, gas and telecom is underway by the concerned agencies.
The ORR-Airport Metro is being established as per the Metro Policy 2017 with equal equity financing model by the Government of India and the State Government. The approval of the Government of India is expected by December 2020.
In addition, BMRCL signed a MoU with real estate firm Embassy Group for the construction of Bettahalasuru Station at an estimated cost of Rs 140 crore with an initial concession period of 30 years from the date of commencement of commercial operations.
On Twitter, the firm refers this station as “Embassy Boulevard – Bettahalasuru Metro Station”. Bids for its construction were invited in July by BMRCL as part of the 15.011 km Package Phase 2B/P2/69(c).
Embassy Group will carry out interior design works, including all fixtures and fittings at an investment of approximately Rs 7 crore. In turn, Embassy Group will receive 1000 square feet of wall space within the station for branding and advertising activities and 3000 sq ft area for commercial development.
For more updates, check out the Bangalore section of The Metro Rail Guy!
– TMRG
Just waiting for construction to start 🙁
Is the land acquisition done for the entire ORR line from silk board to airport or does it have patches pending like Tin factory for the purple line?
Press release is disappointing. BMRC PRO said CG approval was going to come in July. Now they’re saying December. The onus lies on CG but come on…
MoUD approval for any Delhi-centric projects are a given. Believe It Or Not – CG kept chasing Delhi govt to approve DMRC’s phase-4 even though some lines were not viable !!
CG was also very quick to give approvals to Kanpur, Agra, Bhopal, Indore, Varanasi Metros despite viability concerns, some even before DPRs were ready!
While Phase-2A/B of Bangalore, Phase-2 of Chennai & Kochi remain stuck for years with repeated queries. Is the new Metro Rail Policy just a tool to deny Metro to some cities & bypass it for others based on political considerations?
Will they build an elevated line near Indian air force or a level or underground one?
They will make a 300 m Underground Section near the Runway approach of Yelahanka Air Force Base. The Tunneling work will be done Using Cut & Cover Method for Cheaper Cost on Tunneling work.