Bengaluru Peripheral Ring Road: BDA To Explore Innovative Financing Models To Revive The Project

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has instructed Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) officials to explore innovative financial models to revive the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project.

The project has been stagnant for 18 years and the aim is to find a way to get it moving forward once again.

The PRR project was proposed to alleviate traffic congestion in Bengaluru, but it has faced numerous obstacles including legal disputes over land acquisition and cost issues.

Over time, it has become a topic of heated debate among politicians discussing ways to improve mobility and upgrade road infrastructure in the city.

Land acquisition from farmers has been a major point of contention since the project's approval.

Despite multiple global tenders floated by the BDA last year to move the project forward, no investors or concessionaires were interested due to controversies surrounding the land acquisition and the high costs involved.

The estimated cost for acquiring the required 1,036 hectares of land was Rs 12,500 crore, significantly higher than the original estimate of 733 hectares.

During a meeting with Shivakumar, BDA officials highlighted the challenge of mobilising funds for the project, as land prices have dramatically increased over the past two decades.

Shivakumar suggested exploring innovative financing models to overcome this constraint. One proposed solution involves developing residential layouts on government land on the outskirts and compensating farmers by providing them with developed land in exchange for their acquired properties.

One more alternative is to adopt the hybrid annuity model, similar to NHAI's Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway project.

In this model, the implementing agency will invest 40 per cent of the project cost, while the remaining funds will be provided by the private investor or concessionaire.

The BDA will collect tolls and gradually refund the developer for their work on the project, according to an official, reports Times Of India.

Another point of discussion was the possibility of issuing a premium floor area ratio (FAR) and collecting betterment fees from developers of residential and commercial buildings that will benefit from the PRR corridors.

These funds would contribute to the long-term financing of the project. The BDA plans to seek inputs from various stakeholders in the future to ensure a well-informed implementation of the project.

However, before initiating a new tender process, the financing model needs to be clarified further, the official added.

Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project

The PRR is planned as a 74 km stretch with a 100-metre-wide road. On completion, it will connect Tumakuru Road and Hosur Road via Hessaraghatta Road, Doddaballapur Road, Ballari Road, Hennur-Bagalur Road, Old Madras Road, Hoskote-Anekal Road, and Sarjapur Road.

Along with NICE Road, which links Tumakuru Road and Hosur Road via the city’s northwestern, western and southwestern areas, Bengaluru will have a 116-km-long bypass on its periphery.

The proposed alignment of PRR will be located at an approximate radial distance of 17 km-25 km from the city centre and is envisaged to be a bypass to the city for the long-distance personalised vehicles (cars and cabs) and commercial vehicles (trucks and LCVs).

The total land requirement for the project, which was initially estimated to be 733 hectares (1,811.28 acres), was later revised to 1,036.51 hectares (2,561.27 acres) due to the change in length of PRR from 65.5 km to 74 km.

The increase in length was due to realignment and inclusion of cloverleaf structures to integrate at Tumkur Road and Hosur Road with NICE road.

The project's total cost is Rs 14,934 crore, out of which Rs 9,318 crore is required for land acquisition and rehabilitation purposes, while the construction cost is estimated to be around Rs 5,600 crore.

The state government has already provided administrative approval for the project. When originally conceptualised 15 years ago with the aim of decongesting Bengaluru and easing traffic, the project was estimated to be Rs 3,000 crore.

Significance of PRR

The project is very significant to Bengaluru city because it is expected to address serious traffic challenges.

According to local authorities and the state government, Bengaluru needs PRR given the massive geographical expansion of the city to the current spread of 2,196 sq/km and explosive growth of vehicular ownership (2019 estimate — over 80 lakh).

The ring road is also expected to provide massive economic benefits. Bengaluru has been attempting to complete several large ring road projects to improve its city-region connectivity and alleviate traffic congestion.

Environmental Issues

The project has already received initial environmental clearance, which was required as it involves the diversion of 7.91 hectares (19.54 acres) of forest land in the Jarakabandekaval Reserve Forest.

Since the boundary of Bannerghatta National Park and Puttenahalli Bird Conservation Reserve is located at a distance of 7.21 km and 1.49 km respectively, additional approvals were required.

The proposed PRR alignment is close to Peenya Industrial Area and Jigani-Bommasandra Industrial Area, which are notified as severely polluted and critically polluted areas by CPCB.

As per the environmental impact assessment (EIA) done for the project, 36,824 trees will have to be uprooted for the project.

At Thippagondanahalli Reservoir, 20 km of the proposed road will be built and 13,355 trees will come in the way of the project. More than 630 trees have been identified in the Jarakabande Kaval reserve forest area.

Environmental groups also say that there are six lakes along the proposed road alignment, and construction will result in a significant loss of habitat for small mammals like squirrels and bats and birds like the Black kite, Brahminy kite, Common buzzard and the Indian peafowl. They argue that about 555 hectares (1,371 acres) of farmland will also be lost to the PRR.

BDA has proposed to mitigate the impact of the PRR on the environment by planting 10 trees for every tree removed (a total of 338,380 trees to be planted).

BDA has also undertaken to erect barriers on both sides of the road construction site to mitigate dust and air pollution.

It has promised that no materials will be dropped from a height greater than 3 feet to minimise dust and that water will be sprinkled on the construction site at least three times a day.