Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, speaking in the Council, during the Karnataka Legislative Session at Vidhana Soudha on Wednesday.
Defending the proposed two tunnel roads in Bengaluru, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Thursday said that the State government cannot afford the prohibitive cost of land acquisition, paying double rates to the property owners.
The deadline for participating in the tender is likely to be postponed as many have evinced interest, he added.
“Road widening is impossible now. The government cannot provide the compensation at double the rate. In Bengaluru, most of the properties have a value of more than ₹10,000 per sq. ft. Wherever possible, a flyover is being constructed. We are unable to construct a flyover where metro lines are there,” the Deputy Chief Minister told the Legislative Council, while replying to a question from BJP member C.T. Ravi.
“Tunnel is the only option. We have worked on it for almost one and a half years, including on the price. A traffic survey was conducted. Discussion on how to dispose off the silt is on.”
The government is providing 40% of the cost as viability gap funding, while the contractor will bring in 60% of the cost, he said, adding that the roads are being built on a build-operate and transfer mode and will be tolled. According to Mr. Shivakumar, ₹800 crore would be required for private land acquisition, and mostly, the government land is being used.
Despite protests against the tunnel road project, which mobility experts say will only help private transport, the State government is pushing for the 28-km K.R. Pura-Nayandahalli corridor at an estimated cost of ₹18,000 crore and 16.7-km Hebbal-Silk Board junction corridor at an estimated cost of ₹17,700 crore.
Ready for investigation
Replying to allegations of inflated price, he said that the comparison of cost between metro tunneling and tunnel road was not proper since the diameter of the tunnel road was double that of the metro tunnels. These tunnels will be 14m in diameter. “I am not looking at business or finance perspective. I want to leave a legacy. We are open to any investigation,” Mr. Shivakumar said.
Acknowledging that some portion of the report was cut and pasted from the Namma Metro document, Mr. Shivakumar said that a fine has been imposed.
Regarding the fear of traffic like up at the exits, he said, “We are aware of that and we do not want traffic to pile up. To remove the bottleneck, there is a need for some extra land and we have taken care of it.”
On the comparative cost of the tunnel road in Bengaluru, the Deputy Chief Minister said that tunnel construction per unit length cost in other places is 60% to 70% more than the tunnel cost in Bengaluru. “Ours will be the biggest tunnel in India. We have even suggested to the Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari that the Centre can implement this project. We do not care about who does it, but the project should ease traffic.”
To question on NHAI blacklisted company being given a contract for DPR, he said that the court had stayed the NHAI decision.
Published – August 14, 2025 11:03 pm IST
