L&T gets Rs 1,040-crore contract for Bengaluru suburban rail's Kanaka Line

An artistic impression of the construction of a suburban rail elevated viaduct spanning 500 m below the Bengaluru Metro viaduct near Benniganahalli.

Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited (KRIDE) on December 30 issued a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) to Larsen & Toubro for the civil work of the 46-km Kanaka Line (Heelalige – Rajanukunte) in the Bengaluru suburban rail project. The contract is worth Rs 1,040 crore.

The project includes the design and construction of an elevated viaduct spanning 8.9-km and at-grade covering 37.9-km (excluding station buildings) between Heelalige and Rajanukunte, on an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) basis for Kanaka Line (Corridor-4), a statement noted.

In August 2023, L&T emerged as the lowest bidder for the rail civil work tender. However, KRIDE, responsible for executing the suburban rail project, could not issue the work order then due to the delay in the transfer of land from South Western Railway. In January 2023, K-RIDE invited bids for the civil engineering works of the Kanaka Line.

"The work contract is valued at Rs 1,040.51 crore (including GST), with a completion period of 30 months. Physical work is expected to commence shortly," KRIDE said in its statement.

"South Western Railway is in the advanced stage of handing over the Railway land (115.5 acres) for Corridor-4 (Heelalige – Rajanukunte), and the handover is expected soon," it said.

The Kanaka Line will include stations at Rajanakunte, Muddanahalli, Yelahanka (interchange), Jakkur, Hegde Nagar, Thanisandra, Hennur, Horamavu, Channasandra, Benniganahalli (interchange), Kaggadasapura, Doddanekundi, Marathahalli, Belandur Road, Carmelaram, Ambedkar Nagar, Huskur, Singena Agrahara (future), Bommasandra (future) and Heelalige.

Double decker alignment

This contract also involves the construction of a double-decker viaduct of 1.2 km for suburban rail Corridor-1 (KSR Bengaluru- Devanahalli) and Corridor-4 (Heelalige-Rajanukunte) near Yelahanka.

Additionally, it includes the construction of a suburban rail elevated viaduct spanning 500-metre below the Bengaluru Metro viaduct near Benniganahalli, sharing the right of way between suburban rail and Bengaluru Metro, which claims to be the first of its kind in India.

Also, read: Exclusive: Vande Metro, circular rail to ease Bengaluru's traffic congestion: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Earlier, L&T was awarded the work for Corridor-2 (Chikkabanavara to Byappanahalli for 25.2 km), and construction activities are underway.

"With this tender award, a total length of 72.08 km of Civil work (elevated and at-grade) for BSRP has been awarded, covering approximately 50 percent of the total project alignment. Corridor 2 (Chikkabanavara to Byappanahalli) and Corridor 4 (Heelalige – Rajanukunte) were identified as phase-1 priority corridors by the Karnataka government," said a statement from KRIDE.

Also, read: Karnataka govt sets 2028 deadline for entire Bengaluru suburban rail project

"As the loan agreement is signed with KfW, Germany for Euro 500 million, and a loan agreement for Euro 300 million is expected to be signed with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in March 2024, tenders for Corridor-1 (KSR Bengaluru-Devenhalli) and Corridor-3 (Kengeri-Cantonment-Whitefield) will be invited shortly," it further added.

Also, read: Germany-based KfW Development Bank to fund Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project 

In October 2020, the Union government approved the 149-km suburban rail project with four corridors. While the Union government sanctioned the suburban rail project in October 2020 with a completion time of six years (by 2026), Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who laid the foundation stone in June 2022, stated that the project, first mooted in 1983, would be completed in 40 months. The Karnataka government on August 11 set 2028 as the new deadline for the entire project.