BDA to hire financial consultants to kick-start stalled PRR project

In a move to inject life into the stalled Peripheral Ring Road project, the Bangalore Development Authority would hire a team of financial consultants to mobilise funds.

The proposal for the road project has been gathering dust for 11 years as the BDA struggled to muster the requisite sums, with the recent effort to coax funds out of
the Centre also ending in failure.

The agency has trusted the financial consultants with the rather uphill task of raising Rs 8,000 crore for the project, which would run from Tumakuru Road to Mysuru Road along NICE Road.

A bulk of the Rs 11,950 crore for the project would go towards acquiring 1,810 acres and 18.5 guntas of land, needed to lay the 65-kilometre road. The Rs 3,850 crore to execute the project will come from JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).

"The BDA has spoken to several agencies about funding the project, but without success. We cannot go around talking to the banks and funding agencies any more since we don't have the time or qualified people  to do it for us," said a BDA official, who did not want to be named.

The official said tenders have been floated to hire the consultants for a year, which would be finalised soon.

"This is the first time the BDA is doing something like this, but it is need-based," an official said, adding that  the BDA would pay the amount quoted by the consultants if the expectations are met.

Job clear-cut  

Once hired, the consultants will have their job cut out. They will coordinate with those prepared to give up their land, besides liaising with different departments of the BDA, especially finance and land acquisition.

The consultants will advise the BDA on the best proposals, while also striking deals on its behalf.

DH News Service