ADB Approves $500 mn Loan for Bangalore Metro’s Phase 2A & 2B
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today announced its board’s approval to lend USD 500 million (approx. Rs 3680 crore) for the development of Bangalore Metro’s 56 km Blue Line (Phase 2A and Phase 2B) which’ll connect Silkboard – KR Puram – Bengaluru International Airport through 30 stations.
ADB had cleared the loan’s concept on December 6, 2019, performed a fact-finding mission from 26 May to 15 June, and then held its management review meeting (MRM) on 14 September.
- Phase 2A (18.2 km ORR Line): Silkboard – KR Puram with 13 stations at KR Puram (interchange with the under construction Purple Line), Mahadevpura, DRDO Sports Complex, Doddanakundi, ISRO, Marathahalli, Kodibisanahalli, Kadubeesanahalli, Bellandur, Ibbalur, Agara Lake, HSR Layout, Silk Board (interchange with the upcoming Yellow Line).
- Phase 2B (37 km Airport Line): KR Puram – Kempegowda International Airport with 17 stations at Kasturinagara, Horamavu, HRBR Layout, Kalyan Nagar, HBR layout, Nagawara, Veerannapalya, Kempapura, Hebbal, Kodigehalli, Jakkur Cross, Yelahanka (erst. Kogilu Cross), Bagalur Cross, Bettahalasuru, Doddajala (formerly Trumpet Junction), Airport City and KIAL Terminals
Here are some relevant excerpts from ADB’s press release:
MANILA, PHILIPPINES (8 December 2020) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $500 million loan to construct new metro rail lines in Bengaluru, India.
The project will construct two new metro lines, mostly elevated, with a total length of 56 kilometers along Outer Ring Road and National Highway 44 between Central Silk Board and Kempegowda International Airport. It will also establish 30 metro stations which will include multimodal facilities, such as bus bays, taxi stand, motorcycle pools, and pedestrian walkways and bridges. The needs of vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, women, children, and differently abled persons, will be integrated in the design of the facilities.
An additional $2 million technical assistance grant from ADB will help the state government formulate urban development plans and their implementing frameworks, focusing on transit-oriented development and multimodal integration. This will also strengthen the capacity of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited and other state agencies to implement transit-oriented development and multimodal integration.
For Phase 2A, Afcons Infrastructure & Shankaranarayana Constructions had emerged as the lowest bidders for its construction in October. Contracts for that have not yet been awarded, but this approval should expedite things.
Bids for Phase 2B’s construction (3 packages) were invited in July with an original submission deadline of September 3. That date has been moved thrice, and the current submission deadline is December 22 at 3 pm.
Both phases are awaiting the Central Government’s cabinet approval, but that is not a deal breaker as far as the start of construction work goes.
For more updates, check out the Bangalore section of The Metro Rail Guy!
– TMRG
Wow! Does this mean work on the metro line to Bengaluru airport can start asap?
Can always begin with state government funds, but BMRCL chooses to wait for all clearances.
maximum big infrastructure companies are not interested to work in BMRCL.
Does the blue line to the airport have an interchange with the pink line?
Yes, at nagwara
Oh that’s nice to know. Thank you
what is the deadline of this line?
New deadline hasn’t been announced. I’m estimating a 2027 completion at this time.
It will be night mare again for IT professionals to commute from silk board to Hebbal if they commence the work.. better if they won’t start from silk board to KR puram atleast till 2040…
Atleast I was able to reach Bagmane office from electronic city in 110 minutes in first or second gear via outer ring road..now better to go by walk… People will curse..
Lucky you. 110 minutes. I am taking 140 mins from basavanagudi to cisco campus.🤣🤣🤣
“Both phases are awaiting the Central Government’s cabinet approval, but that is not a deal breaker as far as the start of construction work goes”
BMRC will obviously have to follow Karnataka govt’s instructions & may or may not start based on GoK’s orders.
This apart, aren’t loans from international bodies with GoI’s soverign guarantees routed through central govt?
Will central govt release it to BMRC when they have not approved it yet & seem to have no intention of doing so considering they have been sitting on it for nearly four years now & hardeep puri has said “feasibility has to be checked, no timeline can be given etc”?
2 things:
1) If BMRCL and Karnataka govt want to follow this self-imposed long-winded process, then the city will continue losing. The derision the operator and govt receive is then justified.
2) The project has not been pending on CG for 4 years. Recent article on it in the media was not an accurate depiction. BMRCL went down the rabbit hole of PPP mode in 2016 and switched to EPC along the way in 2017/2018, leading to a new proposal being sent to CG. Yes, the approval is important for the loan’s funds to come through, but it is not an impediment to start work, which can begin with state funds (eg, Delhi-SNB RRTS).
Don’t think thats correct.
BMRC pursued only innovative financing & have succeeded in getting corporates to contribute for five station constructions in phase-2,2A,2B. In addition, they have a 800 crore MOU with BIAL for construction of the last 4.5km of the line & two airport stations.
BMRC never pursued any PPP nor did the state, which had recommended just 500 crores as minimum private financing, which is peanuts considering total project costs.
Phase-2,2A,2B were always a public project. The initial DPR had been rejected by central govt, stating that it wasn’t as per new metro policy, though some private firms had already been roped in by then to invest in exchange for station naming rights & commercialization.
Post this, they have gone silent on both Chennai & Bengaluru metros while they approved almost a dozen metros elsewhere (all in north).
By PPP, I’m referring to the ‘innovative financing model’ which is a public-private partnership technique to develop infrastructure, although not in the sense people are familiar with which involves one private concessionaire.
BMRCL was hoping to raise anywhere between 1100 – 3200 crores just for the ORR line. See DPR snippet: https://themetrorailguy.com/2017/06/24/bmrcl-signs-1st-mou-to-fund-orr-line-with-embassy-group/
Unless I’m missing something – for the ORR Line – only Intel and Embassy Group signed MoUs for about 100 crore each. This was a great try at achieving something no other operator has ever done, but looking at the numbers – they did not succeed.
As far as the Central Govt’s approval goes, the approval will eventually come through. Just need to be a little patient. Hardeep Puri’s comment was a typical sarkari comment (or a corporate manager’s comment at work), and I wouldn’t read too much into it. Recommend the same to others as well.
Yes, Intel & Embassy are funding one station each on ORR line since they are the only ones with large campuses on ORR.
However, Infosys & Biocon have come forward to invest for two stations on yellow line. Embassy came forward to fund another station (Bettahalasuru) on the same blue line extension to airport. Further, BIAL is funding 4.5km of the airport line + two stations.
In all, private investments are over 1200 crores which is over the 1100 crores minimum that was expected by BMRC & well over the 500 crores minimum set by state govt, though not all of it is for the ORR line. Thus, one can say BMRC succeeded in roping in reasonable private investments even if not all is confined to within a narrow 18km stretch.
What is of concern is not the typical sarkari comment but the bias being openly displayed despite getting 1200crores private investments.
None of the other metros managed anywhere close to this, let alone trying. The same sarkari was bending over backwards trying to coax Delhi state govt to approve DMRC’s phase-4 & also had no hesitation in speedily approving so many metros in smaller cities in north.
His claims about feasibility only for Bangalore is therefore bogus. I’m surprised someone as well informed as you view it as just a routine sarkari comment.
I fully agree with sham. There is a definite bias being displayed by the central govt. The ORR line is vital for the city at least up to Hebbal as the line is through one of the most traffic congested parts of ORR & the extension passes Manyata park, which is equally busy. The line is well planned to have interchanges with Yellow line at Silkboard & Pink line at Nagawara. So, feasibility & ridership are definitely assured.
Yet if someone claims feasibility concerns & keeps delaying it, its nothing but bias. The total cost of some 15k crores for a 56km line is also not high considering costs for such lengths in other cities.
Sham – the site identifies you and Naveen to be the same user. It says this is not the first time you’ve done this. Please stop. I’d recommend you to channel your frustration elsewhere.
Lmao
You’re honestly right. It’s a huge CG bias and it’s ridiculous to say it should be begun with state funding since they might even say no funding from centre if started without cg approval.
I cannot take part in this conversation anymore because BMRCL’s goal posts are being switched or being obfuscated in a wall of text.
The 1100-3200 figure was strictly for the ORR line. BMRCL set it themselves while creating their own DPR. They managed to sign MOUs for only ~200 crore. That’s a big fail. What has transpired on the other lines is encouraging but not pertinent here.
I’d recommend you to be patient. That’s it. If you can’t then please find other channels to vent your frustration. Twitter is an option. Maybe try asking the KA government what stops them from following other states and starting work prior to CG’s approval.
Any updates Anjanapura (silk institute) extenion?
Hearing they are aiming for a date between December 15-20. Let’s see…
When kengeri line open
Should open just prior to I-Day 2021.
System contractors are aiming to start testing around April-May and hand over for certification in June-July.
What is the total estimated cost of construction for blue line? I am trying to gauge if BMRCL needs to arrange for more funds or this loan will sufficiently cover the entire cost of construction.
Total Estimated Cost: Phase 2A: 4812.13 cr AND Phase 2B: 8,415.6 cr
JICA is evaluating another loan for 893 + 1310.74 cr. I believe that’ll be used for its systems’ procurement.
Looks like its a donation from ADB. What’s the repayment terms? The bullet train got it at 0.1% after 5 year deferment.
Hasn’t been disclosed. Perhaps we’ll hear more on that during the official loan signing ceremony.
I feel metro is too expensive affair for a country like India with huge population. Metro has its capacity limits & not at all convenient due to population. It would be better in long run if the government would have spent half the money building local train service network like metro in Bangalore.
TMRG – naveen is my son, both me & son follow metro though he doesn’t have much time, being a student. We are not one person!
Very believable 😂
From 3:34am to 4:36am on a Wednesday, father and son wake up and take turns to comment on each other’s blog posts.. Very believable!
This is the most hilarious exchange I have seen in TMRG 😀 !
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
I would suggest that first let the local trains start to airport from all parts of the city and ease the traffic before they commence this hectic work.. We don’t know when the work will start and when it will end, but it will be messy on all the IT corridors when the work begins. Govt should use the existing Indian Railway network to run the regular trains from City station, Cantonment, Yesvanthpura (probably from Nelamangala), Bayapannahalli, Whitefield, Hosur and Ramnagara to BIAL with a freq of atleast 30 min from important stations.. This way the city traffic will be eased to some extent and can be utilised to makeover a new infrastructure at faster rate..
Actually the railway station at airport trumpet has recently completed and trains will now start halting at this station and BIAL will ply shuttle buses from/to this station from the airport.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/after-missing-5-deadlines-kia-halt-station-is-ready/articleshow/78525451.cms
On the airport line, time is money for most flyers.
Simple common sense would suffice.
I don’t think people would wait for the train only to take another cab after getting down at another station.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2021/jan/21/train-to-kia-ran-empty-11-times-ferried-only-one-on-six-runs-2252968.html