Bangalore's neighbouring towns to get facelift

Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) plans to develop eight clusters around Bangalore in order to ease population pressure in the capital city. It is estimated that the population in the BMRDA limits is expected to reach 1.8 crore by 2030 from the current 1.1 crore. This information was provided by the State Urban Development Minister Suresh Kumar to reporters after a recent cabinet meeting. The cabinet cleared the project, which is expected to cost around Rs 2,100 crore. Under the project, the government would develop all necessary infrastructure facilities like underground drainage, drinking water supply, solid waste management system, stormwater drains and mass rapid transit system. The eight clusters are: Ramanagar-Channapatna, Kanakapura, Nelamangala, Doddaballapur, Anekal, Devanahalli-Vijayapura, Hoskote and Magadi. Major industrial areas close to these clusters are also included under the project. These towns come under the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) limits. In order to fund this project, the KUIDFC plans to borrow Rs 1,400 crore from the Asian Development Bank and the state government will chip in with the remaining Rs 700 crore to implement the project. A detailed project report will be prepared soon and submitted to the ADB, seeking loans, he said.