Embassy, Infosys to team up with govt for Metro Phase 2

Two multi-national companies, Embassy and Infosys, have reportedly come forward to partner with the government for the Metro rail second phase.

Sources in the government said during a review meeting on Monday, which was chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, that two firms extended their help. The review meeting was convened to give a presentation on the status of proposals made by the members of non-government organisations working with the government to improve the city’s infrastructure. Key members of private organisations like Swathi Ramanathan, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, former BBMP commissioner Siddaiah and urban expert V Ravichandar participated in the event.

Officials of various government departments like BBMP, BDA, BMRCL, BMRDA and the urban development department gave presentations on various infrastructure projects.

During the meeting, TenderSURE projects, white-topping of roads, signal-free corridor, bus priority lane, garbage and debris related issues, Metro rail project, suburban rail, lakes, commercialisation of residential areas and sewage treatment plants were discussed.

Representatives of civic agencies apprised the chief minister that by October this year, a 850 MLD waste treatment plant will be operational while by March 2018, the capacity will increase to 1,050 MLD.

The officials said the government has started working on the suburban rail project, where the state will invest 80% of the project cost and the rest will be borne by the Centre. Since the matter of discrepancies in composition of ward committees was pending in the court, the officials opted not to discuss it.

Later, Bengaluru Development Minister K J George told reporters that the review meeting was convened to analyse the progress in various projects. “Works worth Rs 7,300 crore granted by the state government are on track and will meet the deadline. We will ensure that by December, all the works are completed. We have already started inaugurating these projects,” said George.