Sarjapur-Hebbal metro line: Ten firms vie to prepare DPR

Ten firms have shown interest to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) for the 37-km metro line that will link Sarjapur and Hebbal.

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL), which is currently evaluating the bids, had floated the tenders a month after Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced the new line in his budget speech this year.

RITES Ltd, Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System, Korea Railroad Technical Corporation, Urban Mass Transit Company, Consulting Engineers Group, Tractebel Engineering Pvt ltd, and Aarvee Associates, etc are learnt to have participated in the bids.

Among them, government-backed consulting firm RITES Ltd had prepared the feasibility report of the 37-km line at least six years ago.

The DPR is a voluminous document consisting of traffic surveys, ridership, analysis of alternatives, geotechnical investigation, social and environmental impact assessment, depot planning, and power requirements, among others. The report requires at least a year’s effort.

In the past, the BMRCL has depended both on external agencies as well as its in-house team to prepare the report. While the DPR for the currently operational Phase I (42 km) was prepared by the Delhi metro, RITES Ltd had prepared the DPR for the partly operational Phase II (72 km). Later, the BMRCL’s in-house team took up the responsibility of preparing the Phase 2A and Phase 2B (58 km) reports.

The task of preparing Phase III (43 km) was given again to RITES Ltd. Sources said the report is ready for submission. It is, however, not clear whether the government plans to take up the 37-km Sarjapur-Hebbal line, which is expected to pass through Agara, Koramangala and Dairy Circle, under Phase III or separately.

Going by the past record, it would take at least a year to complete the DPR and another six months for the government’s approval as it requires the consent of the BMRCL board, the Finance Department and the state cabinet.

Approval from the union government takes anywhere between one and three
years.

In the Comprehensive Mobility Plan, Karnataka had promised to build 317 km of the metro line — including lines along the inner ring road and the Whitefield-Domlur stretch — by 2030.