Railway land to be leased to generate revenue for suburban rail

Nischith N | NT

Bengaluru, Jan. 21 With the long-pending Bengaluru suburban rail project missing many deadlines, K-RIDE has now planned for the privatization (lease) of railway property worth Rs 4,000 crore.

The Rail Infrastructure Development Company Karnataka Limited (K -RIDE), a special purpose vehicle formed by the Karnataka government and the railways ministry, has planned to utilize the railway land for the commercial purpose by leasing it to generate revenue which will later be used for the suburban railways.

According to the reports, South Western Railways (SWR) has 146 acres of vacant land worth 4,186 Cr across Bengaluru City and as a first stage, K-RIDE is planning to lease 56.38 acres for 45 years to generate revenue.

In this regard Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), a statutory body under the Ministry of Railways, has written a letter to the Chief Secretary seeking help.

“Last year, the Indian Railways allowed private companies to operate certain stations in a publicprivate partnership (PPP) model. In a similar way there is a proposal to increase the revenue for the Suburban railway project because it is shared by both the centre and state. The leasing of land will be as per the land identified and mentioned in the DPR. As we already stated around 85% of the land is ready. The remaining 5-6% land from the state government and 7-8% from private individuals will be acquired soon. So the project will start soon and this will help us to generate revenue” said a Railways official requesting anonymity.

As per the detailed project report (DPR) prepared by the Railways, the suburban rail will have a 148-km network with 57 stations in four corridors - Bengaluru to Devanahalli (41.4 km, 15 stations), Baiyappanahalli to Chikkabanavara (25.01 km, 14 stations), Kengeri to Whitefield (35.52 km, 14 stations) and Heelalige to Rajanakunte (46.24 km, 19 stations). But even a year after the Centre’s nod, Bengaluru suburban rail project is still on the drawing board.

However, officials claim that they have already floated the first civil work tender to Byappanahalli- Yeshwantpur-Chikkabanavara and the work will commence by March.

“This project has been crawling for more than a decade. During the last few years, due to pressure from different corners and follow ups, the project has been taken up seriously by both state government and the Ministry of Railways on a cost sharing basis. This leasing is been done by the land identified as mentioned in the DPR. The state should support and also railways should award the civil work tender and start the work soon,” said Sanjeev Dyamannavar, founding member, Praja RAAG.