The STRR near Dobbspet.
DH FILE PHOTO
Bengaluru: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has invited tenders for the remaining five packages of the 288-km Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR), an access-controlled highway that will eventually encircle all of Bengaluru.
The Rs 17,000-crore STRR will eliminate the need for long-distance commercial vehicles to enter Bengaluru and boost the economies of over a dozen satellite towns, including Dobbspet, Devanahalli, Hoskote, Ramanagara and Hosur. Of the 288 km, 243 km falls within Karnataka and 45 km in Tamil Nadu.
The NHAI divided the STRR work into nine packages. Two packages covering an 80-km stretch connecting Dobbspet, Doddaballapur, Devanahalli and Hoskote have already been completed and are operational, with tolls being collected from vehicles.
Two other packages — the Hoskote to Tamil Nadu border stretch (21 km) and the Balagondapalli (TN) to Karnataka border stretch (35.45 km) — are currently under construction.
On September 6, the NHAI floated bids for the construction of the five remaining packages, spanning 144.25 km at a cost of Rs 4,749.74 crore. This includes the 8.34-km Thattekere-Bagganadoddi section passing through the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP), which will feature underpasses to protect wildlife.
The construction cost of the four packages ranges from Rs 21 crore to Rs 30 crore per kilometre, while the BNP section will cost Rs 122 crore per kilometre due to its ecological sensitivity.
The NHAI's Bengaluru Regional Officer, Vilas P Brahmankar, had told DH earlier that the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) had cleared the BNP stretch, and forest and environmental clearances were expected in about three months. Since the project requires diverting forest land, the NHAI has been asked to acquire equivalent non-forest land.
All five packages will be executed under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), where the union government will finance 40% of the construction cost, with the remaining 60% paid to the concessionaire as an annuity, along with interest, during the operation period.
The NHAI will open the bids on October 22, and contractors will get 730 days (two years) to complete the project. The STRR deadline has been pushed from 2025 to 2026.
Five packages
Kunagal (Ramanagara taluk) to Thattekere (Kanakapura taluk)
33.64 km; Rs 978.91 cr
Obalapura (Nelamangala taluk) to Somakkanamutta (Magadi taluk)
46.30 km; Rs 1,419.90 cr
Thattekere (Kanakapura taluk) to Bagganadoddi (Anekal taluk)
8.34 km; Rs 1,018.35 cr
Somakkanamutta (Magadi taluk) to Kunagal (Ramanagara taluk)
32.7 km; Rs 825.19 cr
Bagganadoddi (Anekal taluk) to S Muduganapalli (Hosur taluk)
23.27 km; Rs 507.39 cr