No companies have shown interest in the tender process for building the 74-km Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
It is said that a “lack of clarity” and the risk involved, in fixing compensation for acquisition of private land for the project, forced the investors to backtrack.
As per the policy decision, the private investor has to bear the cost of land acquisition along with the project cost. The project requires 2,560 acres of land.
In April, the BDA floated the tender for the first time. It had to be scrapped after investors sought more time to study the project and raised concerns over the cost involved in the land acquisition. The tender was floated for the second time in June.
The project connecting Tumakuru Road with Hosur Road is over 15 years old. Consecutive governments failed to execute the project for various reasons such as land cost, legal hurdles, changes in the alignment, strong resistance of the farmers, and a lack of political will.
At present, deciding compensation for the land acquisition is a key factor . Citing a Supreme Court order, the BDA has been maintaining the the BDA Act will be applicable for acquisition of the private land, whereas the farmers are up in arms and demanding compensation under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, (Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Act, 2013.
Farmers have held many protests in the past demanding “fair compensation’‘.
An official of the BDA said: “No companies showed an interest in the PRR tender floated for the second time. The last date for submission was August 30 but no one came forward to bid. During the pre-bidding meeting, we had informed participants that the BDA Act would be applicable for the land acquisition. There is already tough resistance from the farmers on this issue. They want more compensation. Considering the risk involved, investors may have shown disinterest. Prior to floating the tender for the third time, we will seek directions from the State government on the land acquisition compensation.”
The BDA wants to implement an eight-lane PRR project to reduce the traffic entering the city, by linking major roads such as Tumakuru Road, Doddaballapur Road, Bellari Road, Old Madras Road, and Hosur Road on the outskirts of the city.
As per the plan, clover leaf junctions have been proposed to link PRR with the existing NICE Road at Tumakuru Road and Hosur Road. As per the decision of the government, the private investor will get 50 years to collect the toll.
BDA Commissioner Kumar Naik G. was not available for a comment.
