Karnataka Budget: Rs 500 crore for Bengaluru suburban railway comes as a saving grace

The allocation of Rs 500 crore for the suburban rail project has come as a major step at solving Bengaluru’s mobility problems, while there was hardly any other new proposal.

But the state government’s push will mean little unless approval comes from the Union cabinet, which has been sitting on the project for two years since the initial endorsement. Officials have said that the Rs 18,500-crore project requires initial funds of about Rs 1,000 crore to take off.

The budget also announced to bear half of the cost of doubling the Yeshwantpur-Channasandra and Baiyappanahalli-Hosur railway lines, more than a year after the previous government’s U-turn almost derailed it.

The rest of the announcements remain vague and directionless as the budget repeats those made in the previous years, especially with regard to the much-delayed multi-modal transport hubs. The government has also remained silent on the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority, something the BJP had promised in its poll manifesto.

Although Rs 500 crore has been allocated for developing 12 high-density zones that contribute to “80% of traffic congestion” in the city, it’s unclear if that means building more flyovers or implementing sustainable solutions to boost public transport. Considering the recent demand for the elevated corridor by Bengaluru MLAs, it’s likely that the government will be inclined towards building new flyovers.

Metro Phase 3, Metro lite

The budget mentions the progress of the metro work and announces building pedestrian crossovers at 24 stations, which is not a novel idea.

There is also a mention of metro Phase 3 with an announcement on the preparation of a Detailed Project Report for the ‘Outer Ring Road–West Metro’, from Hebbal to JP Nagar. The budget also proposes a 44-km Metro Lite under the public-private partnership.

The announcement that the work on the 56-km Outer Ring Road-KIA metro will begin this year is not reassuring as the project has already been delayed by more than a year, mainly due to a change in the alignment of the line.