Afcons Infrastructure Ltd and Shankaranarayana Constructions Private Ltd have secured contracts for the construction of 18.3 km long Phase-2A corridor work of the Bengaluru Metro for connecting the Central Silkboard to K R Puram. In December 2019, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) floated contracts for the construction of an 18.3 km long stretch consisting of 13 stations running along Outer Ring Road (ORR) in two packages. Last year in October 2020, they opened the financial bids for either of the packages. The first package, 9.85 km elevated stretch with six stations, namely Central Silk Board, Agara, Ibbalur, Bellandur, Kadubeesanahilla, HSR layout, and building of one 2.84 km long flyover at Central Silk Board. Afcons came to be the lowest bidder, quoting Rs 785 crore as the bid value. The estimated cost of overall work was Rs 731.18 crore within the time limit of 30 months. The second package, a 9.77 km elevated stretch consisting of seven stations, namely Kodibeesanahalli, Marathahalli, Doddanekundi, ISRO, DRDO sports complex, Saraswathi Nagar, and K R Puram, along with 1.097 km long link line to Baiyappanahalli Deport and a 0.3 km long pocket track. Shankaranarayana Constructions Pvt Ltd was the lowest bidder, quoting Rs 623 crore as the bid value. The estimated cost of the overall work came to be Rs 594.25 crore within the stipulated time of 30 months. The ORR (Outer Ring Road) Metro is vital for the city because it passes through the IT corridor housing various multinational agencies. About 90% of land acquisition is already completed, and utility shifted contracts also awarded. ADB (Asian Development Bank) agrees to finance the project. The cabinet also approved Bengaluru Metro Phase 2A and 2B project in April 2021. Image Source Also read: Bengaluru metro phase II-A, phase II-B get MPC clearance Also read: Bengaluru Metro: Segment linking airport receives central cabinet nod