Latest news with #B-SMILE
New Indian Express
24-06-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Tunnel road will be 120 ft below ground, says B-SMILE director
BENGALURU: The 16.68 km tunnel road between Central Silk Board and Hebbal near Esteem Mall will be built 120 ft below the ground. Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE), a special purpose vehicle created to execute big-ticket projects in the city, will start the tender process for the much-debated project in a day or two. B-SMILE Director BS Prahallad said advanced tunnel boring machines will be used for the work. The toll for the road has been fixed at Rs 19 per kilometre. But the toll could vary because of inflation and project cost. 'The work is expected to be completed within four years. But everything depends on geological factors. Homes and other structures on the surface will be safe,' he said. On groundwater supply and borewell points getting impacted due to tunnelling, he said the government has given permission for owners to dig borewells and it does not mean they have a right over it as it still belongs to the government. 'Some borewell points may be impacted,' he added. Tenders will be called in two packages and files have already been sent to the Finance Department. 'The government gave the approval on June 9 and tendering will begin in a day or two,' he said. The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 42,000 crore, which will include Rs 800 crore for acquiring land. Experts worried about tunnel road impact Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan, in his social media post, lashed out at the Congress government. He posted, 'Toll for cars on the tunnel may reach Rs 330. Autos and two-wheelers aren't allowed. Rs 7,100 cr subsidy plus Rs 10,700 cr loans, all from public funds. Congestion at exits and rising pollution are inevitable. Why fund a 16.75 km tunnel that serves no one at such a high public cost?'
The Hindu
16-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
B-SMILE all set to call tenders for North-South twin tunnels
Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B-SMILE), the recently formed special purpose vehicle, is all set to call global tenders for the North-South twin tunnel corridor between Hebbal and Silk Board. This follows the approval for a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model with 40% Viability Gap Funding (VGF) from the government to be adopted to build tunnel roads in the city on June 5. If everything goes according to plan, the twin tunnel roads will be open to the public by 2029-30 and the toll on these roads is estimated to cost ₹19/km and will be tolled by the companies that invest and build these roads for the next 30 years. This corridor will be 16.74 km long and is expected to cost ₹17,780 crore. The VGF for this corridor will be ₹9,303 crore. The State Cabinet has already agreed to stand as a guarantor for a loan of ₹19,000 crore towards VGF for North-South and East-West tunnel roads. B-SMILE is in talks with lending agencies including Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), a Government of India undertaking, which is also funding the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR). Work to be split into two packages With the past experience of PRR estimated to cost ₹27,000 crore not attracting any bidders in multiple global tenders, B-SMILE has decided to split the North-South twin tunnel corridor into two packages of roughly around 8.4 km each - North package from Hebbal to Race Course Road and South package from Race Course Road to Silk Board. Two companies will bid and start building these tunnels at two ends simultaneously, which will also ensure the tunnels are ready faster. The tender, likely to be called soon after the government's approval, will fix a 50 month (four years two months) deadline for the completion of the project, said B.S. Prahlad, Technical Director, B-SMILE. Toll estimated at ₹19/km A commuter will pay toll in two stages and toll collection will be completely automated through number plate recognition software, said Mr. Prahlad. 'As per current estimates, the toll will be around ₹19 per km. Since this will be collected after five years, this is not high, and factoring in inflation, it will be comparable to other tolls elsewhere at that date,' he argued. Twin Tunnels The project involves building two unconnected tunnels for each direction of traffic next to each other, each three lanes wide. This essentially means the total length of earth to be tunnelled for the North-South corridor is 33.48 km. Sources said at least eight tunnel boring machines will be deployed simultaneously to speed up work. Each machine is capable of tunnelling 2 km per year, sources said.
Deccan Herald
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- Deccan Herald
Karnataka government effects changes in BBMP posts
B-SMILE is a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) created to execute major infrastructure projects in the city.
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Bengaluru's chief engineer moved to new agency
Bengaluru: With an aim to revamp urban infrastructure management, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) engineer-in-chief BS Prahalad has been transferred to the newly formed Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B-SMILE) as its director (technical). The move comes as part of the govt's decision to implement high-impact urban projects through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with an enhanced annual budget of Rs 7,000 crore. Prahalad had been entrusted with the task of improving the condition of roads and storm water drains, two areas where the BBMP had come under fire from Bengalureans, before he was put in-charge of the city's big ticket projects mooted by DCM DK Shivakumar and will be executed under B-SMILE. The transition, formalised through govt order dated May 23 also involves a reorganisation of the BBMP's engineering divisions. Prahalad's former role was dissolved, with structural works merged under the chief engineer (health and sanitation) and road development functions handed over to the chief engineer (road infrastructure). The restructured model aims to streamline operations and avoid overlapping mandates as the city gears up for a new governance framework under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act-2024.
The Hindu
24-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
BBMP chief engineer Prahlad moves to B-SMILE as Director (Technical)
The Karnataka government has announced the merger of the post of BBMP Engineer-in-chief with Director (technical) of Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B-SMILE). As per the Government Order, B.S. Prahlad, who had been holding the BBMP engineer-in-chief post, has now been appointed as Director (Technical) of B-SMILE with immediate effect. The post will be equivalent to that of Principal Engineer, BBMP, reads the order. Mr. Prahlad had been serving as the engineer-in-chief while also holding the posts of Chief Engineer (Road Infrastructure) and Chief Engineer (Storm Water Drain.) The new merger would essentially mean the scrapping of the post of engineer-in-chief at BBMP and potential new appointees to the other two posts. SPV for infrastructure During Karnataka Budget, 2025-26, the government expressed its intent to develop Bengaluru's infrastructure by allocating a ₹7,000 crore grant every year. B-SMILE was formed as a special purpose vehicle to implement major development works in the city and came into effect through an order earlier this month. It is expected that the State government will undertake the construction of projects such as elevated flyovers, white topping of roads and so through the SPV. The latest order noted that the SPV urgently required the post of full-time director (technical), and hence, the merger. 'As the Greater Bengaluru Act has come into existence, it is proposed to divide the BBMP within four months and create new city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Administration Act-2024. Accordingly, it has been decided to merge the post of chief engineer of the BBMP with the Director (Technical), B-SMILE on a full-time basis,' the order read.
