Funds required for city, state projects, DKS tells Sitharaman

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru / New Delhi: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday called on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and sought financial assistance for several infrastructure projects in Karnataka, especially Bengaluru.

Shivakumar, who is also Water Resources and Bengaluru Development Minister, met the Finance Minister at Parliament House and submitted a letter seeking funds for key projects.

This included the tunnel project in the state capital and Mekedatu multi-purpose project, extension of metro network in Bengaluru, Upper Bhadra project and the Upper Krishna project.

The Deputy CM told Sitharaman that Bengaluru was facing severe traffic congestion and hence a 60- km tunnel project was being planned to ease traffic flow in the North-South and East-West Corridors.

“At Rs 500 crore per km, the total cost of the tunnel project is estimated to be Rs 30,000 crore,” he said.

The letter sought allocation of Central funds for the state in the next Budget as the tunnel project connects National Highways seven and four.

The letter also sought Mrs Sitharaman’s help in getting the approval of the Union government for the extension of Namma metro as per the extension plan being prepared by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).

The letter also sought approval for a proposal the State has submitted to the World Bank seeking Rs 3,000 crore to develop flood mitigation infrastructure in the state capital.