Karnataka cabinet clears borrowing of Rs 7,438 crore for Bengaluru suburban rail

The loan guarantee for the borrowings will be shared equally by the state government and Ministry of Railways

The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday gave administrative approval to borrow Rs 7,438 crore for the Bengaluru suburban rail project that is being implemented jointly by the Centre and the state.

The money will be borrowed by a special purpose vehicle that has been set up to implement the Bengaluru suburban rail project, Law Minister J C Madhuswamy said, briefing reporters.

While the Centre and state will contribute Rs 2,479 crore each, Rs 7,438 crore will be borrowed from lending agencies through the SPV.

The much-awaited suburban rail project will cover four corridors - Bengaluru to Devanahalli (41.4 km and 15 stations), Baiyappanahalli to Chikkabanavara (25.01 km and 14 stations), Kengeri to Whitefield (35.52 km and 14 stations) and Heelalige to Rajanakunte (46.24 km and 19 stations) - with total route length of 148.17 km.

While the government had estimated the completion cost to be Rs 18,621 crore, it was subsequently reduced to Rs 15,767 crore after adapting the Public-Private Partnership model.

The loan guarantee for the borrowings under the SPV for the project will be shared equally by the state government and Ministry of Railways, according to sources.

The Cabinet also approved the implementation of a women's safety system in buses under Nirbhaya funds, which will include an in-bus surveillance system.

Madhuswamy said that the Ministry of Women and Child Development had approved an action plan of Rs 56.07 crore to implement nine projects under the Nirbhaya scheme.

Installation of CCTV surveillance cameras for 5,000 buses, mobile application to improve functionalities on women safety and implementation of passenger information display in bus stops, are among the projects. The total cost of the three projects is Rs 40.92 crore and will be implemented in buses run by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).