Bengaluru: In a potential relief to owners whose land has been notified for the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project, the state government has decided to compensate them on “a par with the 2013 Land Acquisition Act”.
That will work out to Rs 20,511 crore, or an average of Rs 8 crore per acre. Land losers can also opt for compensation under the Transferable Development Right (TDR) scheme. These decisions were taken at the state cabinet meeting on Thursday.
However, the revised compensation formula may not be as attractive as it might seem because the government drastically cut down the guidance value in March.
The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) will acquire 2,560 acres of land to construct the 73.04-km PRR. In 2007, it issued the final notification to acquire 1,810 acres. Around 750 acres, including 142 acres notified in 2010 but subsequently quashed, were taken up for acquisition in 2022. The BDA cited the need to construct toll plazas, integration with NICE Road, cloverleaf, etc.
50-metre carriageway
The government also decided to acquire land stretching up to 100 metres. Fifty metres will be used for the six-lane main carriageway as is the case with NICE Road and the Bengaluru-Mysuru access-controlled highway. The remaining 50 metres will see mixed development (commercial, residential and non-residential) by providing Floor Area Ratio (FAR) (high-rise) and set back relaxations, top officials said.
The PRR, renamed to Bengaluru Business Corridor (BBC), will will form a semi-circle around Bengaluru, connecting Hosur and Tumakuru roads. It will have a two-lane service road only on one side.
Overall, the project will cost Rs 27,000 crore, including construction.
The BDA has received approval to increase 75% of the cost by raising loans from external financial institutions. The rest will be borne through budgetary allocations from the state government. The BDA will mortgage the acquired land to raise the loan.
The project will be taken up by the newly formed Bengaluru Business Corridor Ltd, likely to be headed by a bureaucrat as Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has decided to vacate the post. The government has approved hiring 69 people, including land acquisition officers, tahsildars, civil engineers and surveyors, on a temporary basis.
When the project was first approved in April 2007, the PRR was estimated to cost Rs 5,800 crore, including the land. The government revised the cost to Rs 11,950 crore in July 2016 and formed a special purpose vehicle.