Bangalore, Nov 27 (IANS) Karnataka will soon select a consortium-bidder for the Rs.5,767-crore high-speed rail link between the international airport and the central business district here, a senior state government official said Friday.
“The bidder will be selected in the next 15 days from the five consortiums short-listed,” said Infrastructure Development Principal Secretary V. Madhu on the margins of a trade event on the construction equipment industry.

The five consortiums bidding for the 35-km rail project are led by Reliance Infrastructure, the Tata group, Larsen and Toubro, ICM and Lanco.

Of the total project cost, the central government will invest Rs.1,040 crore as viability gap funding, while the state government will provide land valued at Rs.530 crore.

“The selected consortium will invest the remaining amount in the form of equity and debt to be worked for the finance closure by May 2010,” Madhu said.

The project was vetted by an empowered committee set up by the planning commission on the basis of a detailed project report prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corp managing director E. Sreedharan in 2007.

The rail link — with two stops — was planned to facilitate speedy transit between the airport and city centre, besides providing link between the upcoming metro rail and the proposed monorail network.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be set up to execute the project.

The state government will explore a strategic equity stake in the 30-year project in the form of a golden share, keeping in view its spin-offs on build-operate-transfer basis, Madhu added.