View of Bengaluru city
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The state government has cleared the formation of Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B-SMILE), a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) aimed at executing major infrastructure projects in the state capital.
The new SPV will commence operations with an initial corpus of Rs 7,000 crore, which has been assured in the state budget.
According to the Memorandum of Association (MoA), the government will hold a 90% stake in the company, with the remaining 10% allocated to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The new entity is likely to be headquartered in Vasanthnagar, about 4 km away from the BBMP’s head office.
In a notable move, the SPV has been authorised to take on not just government-funded projects but also development initiatives with private sector investments, either wholly or in part.
The company will oversee the construction of 40 km of tunnel roads crisscrossing the heart of Bengaluru, a citywide network of flyovers and underpasses, new roads along the buffer zones of stormwater drains (rajakaluves), and a proposed 250-metre sky deck — all considered pet projects of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
As a result, BBMP — soon to be restructured into smaller corporations — will relinquish control over several major infrastructure works.
Besides, the company’s jurisdiction will cover the entire Bengaluru Urban district.
The government has also given the SPV the powers to collaborate with or subsidise other entities, a clause that observers say may allow it to sidestep the provisions of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act.
The company will be governed by an 11-member board, which includes a full-time CEO — an IAS officer. The mayor of Bengaluru, the commissioners of the Bangalore Development Authority and the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board, BBMP engineer-in-chief, and three private sector experts will be part of the board.
A senior BBMP official said the move reflected the government’s push to ease traffic congestion and improve mobility in the city. “While the BBMP continues to manage day-to-day road maintenance including filling up of potholes, the new company is structured to implement long-term, high-impact infrastructure solutions,” the official said.
However, the MoA, cleared by the Urban Development Department on May 2, contains an inconsistency, referring to the SPV alternately as Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd & Bengaluru Road Infrastructure Ltd.