Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar will hold a meeting on Monday to decide on Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation’s (BMRCL)request for 45-acre of land near Hebbal to build a multi-modal transport hub and a metro tri-junction.
BMRCL's request has been pending with the government since March last year, delaying progress on the Metro’s plans on the route connecting the airport line.
Shivakumar will chair the meeting to be attended by Industries Minister MB Patil, heads of urban development and industries departments, BBMP Commissioner, Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) CEO and metro officials.
The government has been under pressure to speed up the metro’s request by parting with the land which is currently in possession of the KIADB. The KIADB, which acquired the land from private landowners, is yet to compensate them.
SCALE IT DOWN
Bengaluru’s civic body BBMP has also sought a portion of the land for its 16.6 km tunnel-road project between Hebbal and Silk Board junction. The BMRCL is said to be under pressure to scale down its requirement from 45 acres to less than 10 acres.
It is to be seen what stand BBMP’s new chief commissioner Maheshwar Rao M will take at Monday’s meeting. As BMRCL’s managing director, a post he is still holding as additional responsibility, the 1995-batch IAS officer had stood firm on the request. His stand is seen as crucial for the survival of the multi-modal transport hub project, sources briefed on the subject said.
The BMRCL, in its March 2024 letter, offered to pay the price KIADB has fixed so that it can pay landowners for their plots acquired at Hebbal and Hebbal Amanikere villages about two decades ago for a tourism project. The private investor offered to set up a project in the area at the global investors meet (GIM) in June 2000, but it has been a non-starter even after 20 years, prompting the metro to approach the government for the sprawling area, according to sources briefed on the subject.
The KIADB has fixed a price of Rs 12 crore per acre, but it has not yet paid compensation to landowners. The BMRCL has offered to bear the land cost, which is likely to be Rs 550 crore.
REAL ESTATE INTEREST
MLA S Suresh Kumar (BJP)on Sunday urged the Dy CM and Industries Minister to take a final call at Monday’s meeting to honour BMRCL’s request. He said he had learnt powerful real estate developers were eyeing the prime piece of land and were bringing pressure on the government. “I raised queries on the subject in the recent assembly session also and was disappointed with a lack of conviction in the government’s response,” he told ET.
It was difficult for the metro to get such a vast vacant plot in the city to build the transport infrastructure, he added, referring to the plans to hand over the plot to private developers to build a star hotel, mall and resort.
Earlier MoS (Employment & MSME) Shobha Karandlaje and Aarin Capital chairman TV Mohandas Pai too raised the same demand with the CM. The proposed project falls in Bengaluru North, the constituency Karandlaje represents in the Lok Sabha
The BMRCL has planned a modern hub, multi-level car parking facility, a depot, and other infrastructure. At Hebbal, the BMRCL is also proposing the construction of three metro stations along the blue, orange, and red lines.
The proposed transportation hub will have access from Ballari Road and Outer Ring Road (ORR) side.
BMRCL's request has been pending with the government since March last year, delaying progress on the Metro’s plans on the route connecting the airport line.
Shivakumar will chair the meeting to be attended by Industries Minister MB Patil, heads of urban development and industries departments, BBMP Commissioner, Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) CEO and metro officials.
The government has been under pressure to speed up the metro’s request by parting with the land which is currently in possession of the KIADB. The KIADB, which acquired the land from private landowners, is yet to compensate them.
SCALE IT DOWN
Bengaluru’s civic body BBMP has also sought a portion of the land for its 16.6 km tunnel-road project between Hebbal and Silk Board junction. The BMRCL is said to be under pressure to scale down its requirement from 45 acres to less than 10 acres.
It is to be seen what stand BBMP’s new chief commissioner Maheshwar Rao M will take at Monday’s meeting. As BMRCL’s managing director, a post he is still holding as additional responsibility, the 1995-batch IAS officer had stood firm on the request. His stand is seen as crucial for the survival of the multi-modal transport hub project, sources briefed on the subject said.
The BMRCL, in its March 2024 letter, offered to pay the price KIADB has fixed so that it can pay landowners for their plots acquired at Hebbal and Hebbal Amanikere villages about two decades ago for a tourism project. The private investor offered to set up a project in the area at the global investors meet (GIM) in June 2000, but it has been a non-starter even after 20 years, prompting the metro to approach the government for the sprawling area, according to sources briefed on the subject.
The KIADB has fixed a price of Rs 12 crore per acre, but it has not yet paid compensation to landowners. The BMRCL has offered to bear the land cost, which is likely to be Rs 550 crore.
REAL ESTATE INTEREST
MLA S Suresh Kumar (BJP)on Sunday urged the Dy CM and Industries Minister to take a final call at Monday’s meeting to honour BMRCL’s request. He said he had learnt powerful real estate developers were eyeing the prime piece of land and were bringing pressure on the government. “I raised queries on the subject in the recent assembly session also and was disappointed with a lack of conviction in the government’s response,” he told ET.
It was difficult for the metro to get such a vast vacant plot in the city to build the transport infrastructure, he added, referring to the plans to hand over the plot to private developers to build a star hotel, mall and resort.
Earlier MoS (Employment & MSME) Shobha Karandlaje and Aarin Capital chairman TV Mohandas Pai too raised the same demand with the CM. The proposed project falls in Bengaluru North, the constituency Karandlaje represents in the Lok Sabha
The BMRCL has planned a modern hub, multi-level car parking facility, a depot, and other infrastructure. At Hebbal, the BMRCL is also proposing the construction of three metro stations along the blue, orange, and red lines.
The proposed transportation hub will have access from Ballari Road and Outer Ring Road (ORR) side.
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