State government likely to revive monorail project
Malaysia-based company bids through the Swiss Challenge method
Bangalore will soon see at least two mono rail projects chugging off, if the State Government has its way.
A Malaysia-based company, Scomic-Geodesic, has come forward to build a 58-km mono rail for Bangalore. The company has made the offer to the State Government under the Swiss Challenge method, official sources said.
The company, which has secured permission to implement a mono rail project in Mumbai, proposes to run the mono rail in three corridors. The alignment has been proposed within 5 to 7 km radius of Vidhana Soudha.
It is proposed to have 55 stations, including inter-change stations near Sujatha theatre, Rajajinagar, near Hudson circle and St John’s Hospital, and three depots. The company has proposed to ensure a system integrated with other modes of transport, including the Bangalore Metro.
The project proposal will be placed for clearance before the next-high level committee meeting headed by the Chief Minister. In fact, this is the first project offer the Government has received under the Swiss Challenge, after it was adopted in 2007. Though Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra too have adopted this method of implementing mega infrastructure projects under the PPP model, none has, so far, got any mega proposal.
Under the Swiss challenge, if the proposal is cleared by the high level committee, the Government will call a global tender based on the technical and financial parameters proposed by the Malaysian firm. Then, any company can challenge any component of the original proposal.
Subsequently, the State Government will set up an expert committee to evaluate the proposal along with those challenging it. The Government will finally select a proposal, or a mix of proposals as a project, and give its nod for implementation, officials explained.
When contacted, Principal Secretary to the Infrastructure Development department confirmed that a Malaysian company has proposed the project, but refused to give any details.
Mono rail plan
The State Government has also decided to revive its own mono rail plan, which was dumped by the then H D Kumaraswamy Government. The project proposes 30 kms of mono rail in four corridors.
It will now be placed before Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development Task Force (ABIDe) for approval.
