Tatas, L&T in race for high-speed rail

The Karnataka government will soon select a consortium bidder for the 35-km high-speed rail transport between Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli and the city centre, a top official said here today.

The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 5,767 crore.

“We have short-listed five consortia for the project and one of them will be selected in the next 15 days to execute the project under the public private partnership (PPP) model,” V Madhu, principal secretary, infrastructure development department, government of Karnataka told reporters on the margins of a trade fair.

The five consortia are led by ADAG, Tata, L&T, ICM and Lanco. Out of the total project cost, Rs 1,040 crore will be the share of the Central government as viability gap fund and Rs 532 crore by the state government as the cost of the land.

“The state government will acquire the land for the project. The balance funds will be invested by the selected consortium,” Madhu said at a special session on Karnataka: infrastructure development agenda and investment opportunities at Excon 2009, an international exhibition on construction equipment and construction technology fair.

Madhu said though the Central government had cleared the project in principle after it was vetted by the empowered committee, it needs to be cleared by the finance ministry. The financial tenders will be issued after that and 75 days time will be given for them to respond. Financial closure will be achieved by May next year, he said.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be set up to execute the project and decide on the required equity.

During the 30-year term of the project, he said the state government will explore the possibility of taking a stake in the SPV in the form a golden share.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation managing director E Sreedharan had prepared the detailed project report (DPR) for the rail link in 2007.