Tenders for the PRR project postponed again

Bengaluru: The long-awaited Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project does not look like anytime starting soon. When the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) invited the tenders for the project, all the disruptions seemed to have been averted. However, the BDA has postponed the tender process due to technical reasons.

The project was proposed by the BDA on March 31. Accordingly, the pre-bid meeting was scheduled for April 18, the last day to submit the bid was May 18. On May 20, the authority would have opened technical bids. Applicants for the tender had to make a security deposit of Rs 150 crore. The tender process has now been postponed. Revised dates have not yet been announced.

The BDA, which has notified the tender postponement, is unable to upload bid documents at E Procurement Portal (https://eproc.karnataka.gov.in). So the revised dates will be announced soon.

The PRR will cover about 74 km and eight lanes service road. The 100 m wide road and clover leaf shaped junctions, bridges, over-bridges, railway underpass and railway over bridges will be constructed under the project.

The BDA submitted its proposal to build PRR on the outskirts of the city on January 27, 2006. There have been many teething problems facing the project. The State government had given permission for implementation of this project on November 24, 2018 at a cost of Rs 5,616.41 crore.

The State government will bear 16 per cent of this (Rs 901.72 crore), while the remaining 84 per cent (Rs 4,714.69 crore) will be paid by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in three instalments. Now the format of the project has changed again. BDA has backed away from a proposal to borrow from JICA.

According to tender documents invited on March 31, the BDA is implementing the project in private partnership. The contractor is required to design, fund, build and maintain the road for 50 years and then hand it over to the BDA. The project has been modelled on a revenue sharing by the contractor and BDA for 50 years. The project requires 2,560 acres of land. The contractor must bear the cost of land acquisition.

The Supreme Court has also expressed concern over the unnecessary delays in the implementation of the PRR project.

Responding to the report of the implementation of the project, the Supreme Court said that although the BDA had proposed the PRR project in 2006, no progress had been made other than the notification of land acquisition. On October 26, 2021, it was reported that only three acres of 21-acre land had been acquired.

The BDA submitted the PRR proposal to the Department of Infrastructure for approval. However, approval was not given. The tender was withdrawn on March 31, as it had objected to calling for tenders without the approval of the department. BDA sources said the tender will be called once the approval of the Infrastructure Development Department is approved.

According to the previous plan, the total length of the PRR was 65 km. However, clover leaf shaped junctions are being developed at the intersection of Nice Road and PRR. So the road length has increased to 74 km, BDA sources said.

The estimated cost of the project has increased from Rs 21,000 crore to Rs 23,500 crore. The cost of road construction is estimated at Rs 5,616.41 crore.

But as the length of the road increases, more than 750 acres of additional land will be needed. So, for land acquisition it could cost Rs 18,000 crore. A BDA official informed that the project will be revised. The preliminary notification process for additional land acquisition required for the proposal has not been completed. He added that this could take longer.