The Karnataka government is in talks with the World Bank for assistance to execute various infrastructure projects. The government is presently in the process of finalising the infrastructure projects involving several thousand crore rupees, a senior government official said.
“We are working on a large number of projects simultaneously for which we require $38 billion. We have made a submission to the World Bank that we need to invest so much of money in the next 10 years and we need certain assistance from them. They are examining the capacity building assistance sought by us and indicated that they can consider $26 billion assistance,” V Madhu, principal secretary, department of infrastructure said.
He said the state government is drawing up an action plan to execute various infrastructure projects. Some of the projects that are in their different stages of execution include the metro rail for Bangalore city (137 kms), mono rail (60 kms), bus rapid transit system (291.5 kms), commuter rail services (204 kms), nine railway projects across the state, 11 airports, sea ports at Tadadi and Haldipur, several power projects among others.
Addressing a press conference on the infrastructure offered at the forthcoming global investors’ meet (GIM), here today, he said the state government intends to invest around Rs 21,000 crore per annum over the next 10 years to complete various infrastructure projects. Presently, the government is investing Rs 11,000 crore per annum, which is about 4.5 per cent of the state gross domestic product.
He said the government has issued request for proposals to five shortlisted bidders for the proposed high-speed rail link to Bangalore International Airport during the first week of August and finalise the competitive bidder. The work on the project, which is estimated to see an investment of Rs 7,000 crore, will begin by February 2011, he said.
G Janardhan Reddy, minister for infrastructure, announced that Mysore airport will be opened for passenger flights from tomorrow. To begin with, Jet Airways has come forward to operate flights to and out of Mysore. The state would develop 11 airports and 13 airstrips at major destinations across the state in the next two years, he said.
According to a study conducted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), there is a potential for 6,000 business passengers per month. The CII study has not included tourists visiting Mysore. The Jet Airways will operate a 40-70 seater ATR aircraft from Mysore, said Aroon Raman, chairman, CII, Karnataka council.
The government is offering 21 infrastructure projects involving an investment of Rs 30,000 crore to the private investors at the GIM on June 3 and 4, Madhu said.