Finance Department greenlights Namma Metro Phase 3 prep after delay

Bengaluru: After months of dilly-dallying, the Finance Department has approved the preliminary work for Namma Metro Phase 3.

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) can now begin land acquisition and shifting of utilities for the 44-km project, comprising two lines. 

Despite the green signal for the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Phase III in November 2022, the state government did not give its consent to start pre-construction activities. 

Since the project needs the Centre’s approval, which takes a long time to obtain, the BMRCL had written to the government again seeking specific approvals to start the preliminary work until the project clears all statutory hurdles. 

BMRCL sources said that the Finance Department wrote back to them, asking whether there are precedents where approvals for pre-construction activities were accorded prior to the Centre’s nod. 

In response, Namma Metro cited examples of Phase 2A (Silk Board-KR Pura) and Phase 2B (KR Pura-Airport), where such approvals were given in the past.

It is learnt that the Finance Department has reportedly recommended approval to start the preliminary work based on the BMRCL’s letter and the file is currently awaiting clearance from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

Going by its record, the BMRCL generally requires more than two years to complete crucial works such as taking possession of the land, shifting utilities, and seeking approvals to cut trees. These activities can be started even before the project gets formal approval from the Centre.

Once both governments approve the project, the BMRCL will be able to invite tenders for civil work and start the groundwork without any delay. 

Centre gets revised DPR 

BMRCL sources told DH that they physically submitted the revised DPR of Phase 3 to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on November 1. As per the updated DPR, the 12.5-km Magadi Road stretch will get three-car trains initially, but the nine stations will be designed to accommodate six-car trains in the future.

The west of ORR (JP Nagar to Hebbal) will have six-car coaches from the beginning of the commercial operations. 

On October 30, Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya tweeted that the state government did not send the revised DPR to the MoHUA, despite multiple reminders over the last month. "Even as the DPR is awaited, MoHUA has started parallel consultations with other stakeholders and departments to expedite the approval,” he posted on X.