The long-pending 65-km Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project has been stagnating due to the high cost of land acquisition and red tape. This, despite the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) agreeing to fund the infrastructure part of the project through a soft loan of a little over ₹4,000 crore.
However, a solution is in sight: Katsuo Matsumoto, the new chief representative of JICA in India, suggested that the ring road be made into an elevated corridor.
As per the current plan, the government will need to acquire 1,920 acres in 51 villages at an estimated cost of over ₹8,000 crore. The government recently formed a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) tasked with innovative funding for the project.
In an interaction with The Hindu , Mr. Matsumoto said JICA is committed to funding part of the PRR. “We are waiting for the decision of the government over the project,” he said.
He said there are ways to reduce the land acquisition cost by making some changes in the design. “One of them is to make PRR an elevated corridor,” he said, adding JICA had not made this suggestion to the State government.
BDA arrives at a similar conclusion
Independent of the JICA, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which is spearheading the project, also believes that an elevated corridor could be a possible solution.
“We have studied the pros and cons. By making the road an elevated tolled corridor, the total cost will remain nearly the same. But the cost of land acquisition will be reduced by less than half of that required for an at-grade road while the cost of infrastructure will almost double. With funding available for the infrastructure, the project will be viable,” said a senior BDA official.
He added that the BDA had submitted a proposal in this regard last week. However, a decision is yet to be taken on the issue.
Sources said that the State government will have to make a request to JICA through the Union government for any additional funding to cover the rising cost of infrastructure if the elevated route option is chosen.
