“Delays and Revised Plans Inflate Bengaluru Metro’s Second Phase Cost to Rs 40,000 Crore
Bengaluru Metro Second Phase Project: The delay in the second phase of the Bengaluru metro project has brought to light the significant financial burden it will impose on the government. What caused the delay in the project? How much did the cost increase as a result? Officials from BMRCL (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited) have shared information about the new additions to the scheme. Read on to know more.
Bengaluru, July 25: The project cost for the second phase of the metro, covering approximately 75.06 km, has escalated to Rs 40,000 crore due to delays. This represents a 52% increase over the original cost proposed a decade ago. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has recently submitted a revised costing proposal to the state Finance Department for approval by the Urban Development Department (UDD).
Work on the project’s second phase was approved in 2014 for a 72 km stretch, which was later extended by 3 km. The initial plan was to complete the second phase by 2019 for Rs 26,405 crore. However, by 2021, the cost had been revised to Rs 30,695 crore, excluding the Outer Ring Road route (Phase-2A) and the airport route from KR Pura to KIA (Phase-2B).
According to Additional Chief Secretary, of the Urban Development Department, S.R. Umashankar, the cost increase of around Rs 10,000 crore over the previous estimate is attributed to factors such as revised land acquisition costs, addition of a few kilometers, inflation, pandemic-induced delays, and fluctuations in international currencies, as reported by The New Indian Express. Officials from the Urban Development Department stated that the BMRCL proposal has been forwarded to the Finance Department for review.
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Delay in land acquisition is also a cause of the problem
A senior official attributed the main cause of the problem to delays. The second phase of work was initially scheduled for completion by 2019, but the entire network still needs to be completed five years later.
Although the pandemic struck after the original deadline, the official emphasized that adhering to the initial timeline would have prevented the current issues. He noted that the delay in land acquisition had significantly set back the project from the outset.
In the second phase, the extension of Reach-II in the west initially planned to end at Kengeri, has been further extended up to Challaghat. ‘We have added another depot on the eastern side at Kadugodi (Whitefield),’ said a BMRCL official. An additional 44 hectares of land has been acquired beyond what was originally planned, which has also contributed to the increased cost.
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