Bengaluru: In a shot in the arm for Namma Metro, the union cabinet on Friday approved Phase 3, which will add two lines and 31 stations. Estimated to cost Rs 15,611 crore, Phase 3 is slated for completion in 2029.
Phase 3, also known as the Orange Line, will cover 44.65 km and connect southern and western Bengaluru with Kempegowda International Airport via Hebbal.
The two lines in Phase 3 will include a 32.15-km corridor running from JP Nagar 5th Phase to Kempapura (Hebbal) along the western stretch of the Outer Ring Road (ORR), featuring 22 stations. The second, shorter line will extend from Hosahalli to Kadabagere along Magadi Road, covering 12.5 km with nine stations.
Once completed, the Orange Line will help provide metro connectivity to the entire ORR. The under-construction Blue Line (Silk Board Junction-KR Pura-KIA, 58.19 km) covers the eastern part of the ORR. The Orange and Blue lines will integrate at Hebbal.
The BMRCL has already started pre-construction activities for the Orange Line. These include land acquisition, utility shifting, tree enumeration and geotechnical investigations.
"We have started pre-construction activities and are half-way through most of them. We are trying to get the project running as quickly as possible," BMRCL M Maheshwar Rao, Managing Director, told DH. He declined to specify when civil work would start.
A well-placed source in the BMRCL said they were targeting to call civil work (viaduct and station) tenders by the end of this year. If this materialises, civil work could start by the end of 2025.
Of the Orange line's estimated cost of Rs 15,611 crore, as much as Rs 7,577 crore will be sourced from an external funding agency, most likely the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
"JICA has informally agreed to provide the full loan as per the funding plan approved by the government of India. We expect to finalise the funding within the next five to 10 months," a senior BMRCL official told the newspaper.
With 73.81 km already operational, Namma Metro is the second-longest metro network in India, serving over eight lakh passengers daily on average. An additional 101.74 km of metro lines are currently under construction, including a 3.14-km extension of the Green Line, the 19.15-km Yellow Line, the 21.26-km Pink Line and the 58.19-km Blue Line. With the Orange Line, the metro network will expand to 222.2 km.
In addition, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has prepared the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the 36.59-km Phase 3A (Red Line) and sent it to the state government for approval. The Red Line, which will likely have a 2031 deadline, will expand Bengaluru's metro network to 258.79 km.
The BMRCL has identified 777 private properties spread over 1,29,743 square metres for the line between JP Nagar 4th Phase and Kempapura. Some more properties have been identified for three stations (JP Nagar 5th Phase, Kamakhya Bus Depot and Hosakerehalli). The BMRCL plans to issue the land acquisition notification through the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) in the coming days.
Multi-modal integration
Phase 3 will facilitate multi-modal integration at 10 places: JP Nagar 4th Phase, JP Nagar, Kamakhya Bus Depot, Mysuru Road, Sumanahalli, Peenya, BEL Circle, Hebbal, Kempapura and Hosahalli.
The metro stations at Lottegollahalli and Hebbal will be linked to nearby railway stations through foot overbridges.
All Phase 3 stations will have dedicated bus bays, pickup and dropoff bays, pedestrian paths, IPT/autorickshaw stands and cycle sharing facility. The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will run feeder buses to the metro station.