The State Cabinet on Thursday gave administrative approval to borrow ₹7,438 crore for the Bengaluru suburban railway project, which is being implemented jointly by the Centre and the State.
The funds will be borrowed by a special purpose vehicle — Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited (K–RIDE) — that has been constituted to implement the project, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy told presspersons after the meeting.
The State and the Centre will contribute ₹2,479 crore each, while ₹7,438 crore will be borrowed.
The suburban project will connect four corridors – Bengaluru to Devanahalli (41.4 km and 15 stations), Baiyappanahalli to Chikkabanavara (25.01 km and 14 stations), Kengeri to Whitefield (35.52 km and 14 stations), and Heelalige to Rajanakunte (46.24 km and 19 stations) — with a total length of 148.17 kms. The estimated cost of the project by the time of the completion would be ₹18,621 crore.
In the October, the Union Cabinet gave approval for the project.
The Cabinet also approved the execution of the women’s safety system in buses under the Nirbhaya funds, which will include a bus-surveillance system, the Minister said.
The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development had approved an action plan of ₹56.07 crore to implement nine projects under the Nirbhaya scheme for installing CCTV cameras on 5,000 BMTC buses, a mobile application to approve functionalities on women safety, among other projects.
It approved the development of Church Street under the TenderSure project at a cost of ₹18.72 crore. The Cabinet also decided to hand over the management of 12 high-traffic density corridors in Bengaluru from Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.
