Citing technical reasons, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has postponed the tender invitation for the 74 km long Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project, which has been on the anvil for nearly two decades.
It was only on March 31 this year, that the BDA issued a tender notification for the construction of PRR connecting Tumakuru Road to Hosur Road under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. However, the development authority could not upload the tender documents in the e-procurement portal as the necessary approval did not come from the authorities concerned.
BDA Chairman S.R. Vishwanath told The Hindu that the high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary has to give a formal approval for the tender documents. Once this is done, revised dates for inviting tenders will be decided. “It is a technical requirement and is expected to come in a few days,” said Mr. Vishwanath.
As per the previous invitation, the pre-bidding meeting was scheduled for April 2022 and the last date for submission for bids was fixed for May 18, 2022.
Land acquisition and compensation
Sources in the BDA said that some decision has to be taken at the government level regarding fixing a price for land acquisition and the revenue sharing module with the private partner, which will be necessary when the BDA holds pre-bidding meetings with the interested investors.
“Acquiring land for the project — 2,560 acres — has been a complex issue. At the government level, a decision has to be taken on fixation of the price. Another crucial decision is what should be the revenue sharing module with the private partner. Once the government decides on crucial issues, the investors will have more clarity during the pre-bidding meeting,” said source.
Recently, farmers whose land was identified for the project, raised their objections to the BDA floating tenders without finalising the compensation package.
As per the State government’s decision, the project will be based on the design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) model. The private investor will also bear the cost of land acquisition, and will be allowed to collect the toll fee for a period of 50 years.
Preliminary notification for additional land
A few days ago, the BDA received permission from the State Government to issue a preliminary notification to acquire additional land for the project. More than 700 acres of additional land will be required for the construction of a toll plaza, integration of the proposed road with NICE land, building signal free corridors where PRR integrates with Bellari Road and others. “Within a few days, a preliminary notification will be issued for the acquisition of the additional land requesting the general public to submit objections and suggestions. Thereafter, further action will be taken. For 1,810 acres of land, the notification was issued long ago,” said the source. Issuing preliminary notification for additional land is one of the prerequisites to float the tender.
