The Hindu 18.12.2013
Japanese offer to revive sagging ring road project
BDA waiting for GoI approval to borrow Rs. 3,800 cr. from Japanese aid agency
The peripheral ring road (PRR) project of the Bangalore
Development Authority (BDA), which has witnessed endless delays on
account of litigations and fund crunch, is all set to take off now with
the help of foreign funding.
Speaking to
The Hindu
on Tuesday, BDA Commissioner T. Sham Bhat said that the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a multinational aid agency, had
come forward to assist the PRR project with a soft loan of Rs. 3,800
crore.
The proposed 65-kilometre, 75-metre-wide road
will connect Tumkur Road with Hosur Road via Doddaballapur Road, Bellary
Road, Old Madras Road and Sarjapur Road.
Mr. Bhat
said that the cabinet had approved the proposal and that it was being
scrutinised by the Union government. “The Chief Secretary [Karnataka]
has informed us that the Union government is satisfied with the proposal
and will grant permission within 10 days,” he said, expressing hope
that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with JICA would be signed in a
month.
When asked why the BDA, which is already
saddled with massive debts, is borrowing further, Mr. Bhat said that
JICA had offered them an extremely attractive low interest loan. “They
approached us and no other Indian bank or aid agency came forward,” he
said.
The acquisition of 1,900 acres for the PRR
project is complete, Mr. Bhat said, as a result of a High Court order
that set aside objections to the notifications. The cost of the PRR
project is Rs. 5,800 crore of which the BDA has already incurred an
expense of Rs. 2,000 crore towards compensation to land losers.
