The project was approved in 2014 for 72 km, 3 km were added later at a cost of Rs 26,405 crore and it was to be completed by 2019.

BENGALURU: The cost of Bengaluru Metro’s Phase-2 network, running to 75.06 km, has shot up to nearly Rs 40,000 crore, which is 52% of the original cost proposed a decade ago. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) recently sent a proposal with the revised cost to the State Finance Department for approval through the Urban Development Department (UDD).

The project was approved in 2014 for 72 km -- 3 km were added later -- at a cost of Rs 26,405 crore and it was to be completed by 2019. By 2021, the cost was revised to Rs 30,695 crore. This does not include the Outer Ring Road Line (Phase-2A) and the Airport Line from KR Pura to KIA (Phase-2B).

Additional Chief Secretary, UDD, SR Umashankar confirmed the development to TNIE. “The revised land acquisition costs, the addition of a few kilometres, inflation, the pandemic which caused delays and fluctuation in international currencies are among the reasons for escalation by nearly Rs 10,000 crore from the previous estimate,” he said.

UDD officials said the BMRCL proposal has been sent to the Finance Department.

A senior official said the major reason for the escalation is the original delay. “Phase-II was to be in place by 2019. Five years later, the entire network is still not ready. The pandemic struck after the original deadline. If that had been adhered to, this huge escalation would not have happened,” he said. The delay in acquiring land initially held up the project considerably, he added.

A BMRCL official said the Reach-2 extension on the West was to terminate at Kengeri. “It has been extended up to Challaghatta. We also added another depot on the eastern side at Kadugodi (Whitefield),” he added. An additional 44 hectares of land has been acquired than what was planned, shooting up the compensation component to nearly Rs 6,300 crore, up by Rs 438 crore. “We have acquired 128.36 hectares of land against the originally planned 84.33 hectares,” he explained.

The road-widening work has been undertaken by BMRCL near many of its stations, including the stretch from Baiyappanahalli to Kadugodi as well as Yelachenahalli to Silk Institute. Additional land was also acquired for the Reach-5 line (R V Road-Bommasandra). After the Finance Department’s approval, it needs to be sent to the Centre’s Urban Development department, he added.