BMRCL picks contractor for building airport metro depot

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has selected the contractor for constructing a depot for the crucial airport line.

J Kumar Infraprojects Ltd, a Mumbai-based civil engineering firm, said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on March 20 that its joint venture with AICPL had received a letter of acceptance from the BMRCL for the construction of the airport depot.

The total contract cost is Rs 182.33 crore, excluding GST. Of this, J Kumar Infraprojects Limited’s share is 55 per cent, which works out to approximately Rs 100 crore, excluding GST, as per the filing.

The BMRCL awarded the contract on March 18. An official confirmed the move.

The depot-workshop will come up at Shettigere, on the right side of Ballari Road near the trumpet toll plaza in northern Bengaluru. It will service the 58-km under-construction line that will link Silk Board Junction with the airport via KR Puram. The depot will be necessary for stabling and maintaining trains at night.

BMRCL last year opened technical bids for the civil construction of the Shettigere depot and sent them to the Asian Development Bank, which is funding the project. It later invited financial bids. The civil work will take about two years.

The airport line is expected to open by December 2024. Until the Shettigere depot gets ready, the airport line will be serviced by the existing Baiyappanahalli depot, which is being remodelled.

Meanwhile, the BMRCL has received all the land required for the depot, said M S Channappagoudar, General Manager (Land Acquisition).

Of the 21 acres required, the BMRCL initially received 18 acres. There was a delay in taking possession of the remaining three acres because of a dispute over who owned the land. The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has issued a general award for the acquisition of two acres and deposited the money in the court. It is in the process of issuing a general award to acquire the remaining acre.

“We have taken possession of all the required land,” Channappagoudar told DH.

A portion of the land at the Shettigere depot is being used for building the viaducts to the airport. Two metro stations will be built within the airport premises, and land will be provided for free by Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL).