BDA To Float Tenders For Peripheral Ring Road Project
Paving the way for the construction of Peripheral Ring Road Project, Bengaluru Development Authority has started working on an action plan for survey and drafting the tender documents for allocating the work for ring road connecting peripheral areas of the city. BDA has also decided to follow the Comprehensive Development Plan- 2031, to ensure that the construction of the Peripheral Ring Road and the infra development along the corridor are realised at quicker pace.
The Karnataka Cabinet on November 19 allocated Rs 4,500 crore for the land acquisition process. In October, the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) had floated a tender to hire a consultant to prepare a feasibility report and a detailed project report, bringing the project closer to reality.
The BDA has also planned to develop the 65-km Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) as an elevated corridor which will not only provide unhindered transit with 20 lanes but also reduce project cost by about 40 per cent. Also, for the implementation of the project, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been formed by the authority and the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) headed by the Chief Secretary. Expected to be complete in three years’ time, the project will be integrated with a Metro corridor and dedicated bus lanes.
As the Outer Ring Road is already facing congestion, movement of daily commuters has become tough. the Peripheral Ring Road will give an alternative route to the commuters to reach North of the city from Electronic City, Sarjapur Road via Bellary Road and KR Puram. Moreover, while ORR, Whitefield is saturated and facing lack of ready-to-move quality office space, Sarjapur Road realty can step to gain from spillover demand. Earlier, ORR had pushed the real estate market and prices in Bengaluru, PRR is expected to further improve the returns prospects. While there is no clarity over funding channels, the total budget is Rs 17,000 crore for which various business models are being considered. Government is thinking of PPP or hybrid annuity model where developer bears 60 per cent of the project cost while the rest would be borne by the Centre. Since the financial risk is shared by the government, it attracts number of bidders.
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The Layout
Land Acquisition Plans
In the previous version, BDA claimed that land acquisition would be done for a total of 1,920 acres for Phase I (width- 100 meters) . Of this 100 meters, 75 meters is kept for the main carriageway, six toll-free lines and a 12-meter width median. The rest 25 meters is kept for commercial developments and other essential amenities like water and electricity.
PRR- Benefits
The first phase of PRR will integrate many national and state highways around Bengaluru like the Tumkur Road, Bellary Road, Old Madras Road and Hosur Road. This will help on two fronts. Firstly, it would reduce the pressure on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) as PRR is planned outside of the ORR. Secondly, it would also promote real estate in Bengaluru assuming people would now prefer moving to the outskirts, as PRR would connect different outer areas to the Bengaluru city. This will also help decongest the city to a large extent.
The real estate impact
Several localities of north Bengaluru such as Electronic City, Sarjapur Road via Bellary Road and KR Puram, are established real estate destinations which have been facing severe traffic congestion owing to the burgeoning population. The proposed ring road comes as a breather for the residents who would now find an alternative and easy route for commuting to their offices in these localities. Moreover, an upcoming road project is expected to boost realty developments while also increasing the property prices.
The BDA will provide double Floor Area Ratio (FAR) to property developers for a distance of 1.5 kilometre on either side of the road. Also, property owners would need to pay a betterment tax for properties situated within a distance of 1 kilometre on either side. The estimated amount of the tax collection is Rs 9,918 crore.