Government of Karnataka
plans to introduce bullet
trains across the state to provide
high-speed connectivity
between the technology hub
Bengaluru and Mysore (150 km),
Bengaluru and Belgaum (610 km)
and Bengaluru and Gulbarga
(585 km) in the northern region of
the state.
The government is in negotitations
with Japanese experts who
have built and operated bullet
trains in their country, especially
between Tokyo and Osaka, for the
proposed plan. An expression of
interest has been signed with the
Japan International Cooperation
Agency to prepare a detailed project
report for the project, which
will require dedicated tracks,
exclusive coaches and high power
connectivity to operate
high-speed trains for reducing
travel time between inter-cities by
more than 50-60 per cent.
"The Japanese company would
be preparing a detailed project
report by the end of December this
year for the high-speed railway
network, which is expected to cost
100 crore per km," said
Murugesh R. Nirani, Minister for
Large and Medium Industries of
Karnataka, at the Global Investors
Meet (GIM 2012) held in Karnataka
recently.
As part of its basic infrastructure
development across the state,
including road, rail and airport
connectivity, the state government
has formulated a proactive
policy to attract investment from
the private sector in the infrastructure
sector on PPP basis.
As railways is a central subject,
the state government will
approach the central government
and Indian Railways for partnering
in the project with financial
assistance from international
agencies such as the World Bank.
The state government is also
planning to build a tunnel
through the 28-km Shiradi ghat
section on the Bengaluru-Mangalore
(325 km) state highway for
which the Japan External Trade
Organisation has offered to provide
technical assistance in building
the tunnel with private
builders in PPP mode. The proposed
tunnel would reduce travel
time.
A top state government official
also informed that a Japanese
company would invest
30,000
crore to
40,000 crore for the bullet
train project initially connecting
Bengaluru and Mysore, Bengaluru
and Belgaum, and Bengaluru
and Gulbarga.
The Japanese company would
fund the project from the World
Bank and there will be no financial
commitment from the state
government. However, the government
would allocate land and
provide other infrastructure backup
for the bullet train project,
Nirani added.
The government had signed
MoUs for a total investment of
about
5 lakh crore at the inaugural
day of the two-day Global
Investors Meet (GIM 2012). The
MoUs were signed in the areas of
infrastructure, energy, mining,
education, tourism, hospitality
and automobile, among others.
To provide basic infrastructure
facilities to industrial estates
across the state, the Karnataka
government would be spending
2,000 crore in the next two years,
he said, adding that the basic
amenities would include roads,
water, electricity and drainage
among others.
In his speech Karnataka Chief
Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda
said that the state would increase
its spending on the infrastructure
sector from the present 3.2 per
cent of the state GDP to 8-9 per
cent during the ongoing 12th
Five-Year Plan.