The Hindu Business Line : Private sector funds to be tapped for infrastructure: PM

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Saturday laid the foundation for two important projects, which are expected to bring great relief to the city reeling under rapid urban conglomeration and severe commuting problems.

Commending Bangalore as the "highway of rapid progress in our country, while many other regions continue to remain behind, moving slowly," Dr Singh said that the two facilities would act as a catalyst to Bangalore's comprehensive growth without any further bottlenecks.

Hopes revived

The foundation stone laying by the Prime Minister for the Rs 765-crore 10 lane mixed corridor project to the Electronic city and the Rs 6,395-crore mass-transit Metro Railway project has revived the hope for the proposals to take off without any further hindrance.

At the expressway project launch ceremony, Dr Singh said the Government plans to tap funds from the private sector for infrastructure development, as well as harness its efficiency for quality and timely delivery of projects.

``Our experience with PPP (public-private partnership) has been very encouraging. We are quite confident that we will generate adequate public and private resources for this vast enterprise,'' he said, after laying the foundation stone for the 10-lane ``multi-corridor'' mixed corridor project here.

Elevated expressway

A consortium of three private companies — Soma Enterprise Ltd, Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd and Mytas Infra Pvt Ltd — will be implementing the expressway project. It will be completed by early 2008 and will connect Bangalore to the Electronics City, the hub of IT industries, through a 9.5-km four-lane tolled expressway with a six-lane road at the ground level.

The 33-km elevated and underground rail network with 32 stations under the first phase is being implemented by state-owned Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRTL).

Investment destination

Dr Singh said "every other city in India has Bangalore in its sights and in the absence of determined, positive steps, there is no guarantee that the future will be a continuation of the past success of this city.''

He said the cost of living, working and doing business should be kept low if the city was to continue to remain attractive as an investment destination.

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