Non-fare revenue may fund Namma Metro extension plans

Due to the poor response from global lending agencies to partially fund Phase II of the Namma Metro project, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd is looking at non-fare revenue to fund the ongoing Metro works.

A few weeks after it invited tenders to lease out 35,000 sq ft of space in five Metro stations, BMRCL is now looking for additional revenue by leasing out its vacant land adjacent to seven Metro stations.

The work on Phase II of Namma Metro has been moving at a slow pace even as BMRCL claims there is no fund crunch. Of the four extensions of Phase I Metro line, BMRCL has been able to award contracts (civil work) only for two lines. They are: Mysuru Road station to Kengeri station under two packages (Rs 332 crore and Rs 327 crore) as well as Puttenahalli Cross to Anjanapura Township station (Rs 508.86 crore).

However, BMRCL has not made any significant progress on the densely populated areas in two other extensions (Dasarahalli to Exhibition Centre and Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield) as well as new lines (RV Road to Bommasandra and Gottigere to Nagawara). This indicates that BMRCL has not been able to take up civil work on two long Metro lines due to huge investments.

The second phase of the Metro project requires more than Rs 25,000 crore. Of this, 55% of the cost will be borne by state and Union governments and the remaining amount should be raised through loan. However, foreign funding agencies had expressed disappointment over the steep cost escalation from  Rs 8,158 crore to Rs 13,845 following project delays.

Meanwhile, BMRCL spokesperson U A Vasanth Rao said BMRCL has been looking at different ways to raise investments for the project. In addition to fare revenue, non-fare revenue streams like hoardings and providing commercial space inside and outside the Metro station are among them,” he said and added that the amount to be raised would be assessed only at a later stage depending on the response from bidders. About 30 acres of land spread across seven Metro stations would be leased out for a maximum period of 60 years, he noted.