OREANDA-NEWS. June 24, 2011. KPCL will set up power project for Rs 3,500 crore for which gas will be piped from Dabhol The Karnataka government today approved the fuel linkage for the 700 Mw first unit of the Bidadi combined cycle thermal power project for an investment of Rs 3,500 crore. The state-owned energy producer, Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL), would execute the project and use liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel.

“This project was planned a long time ago but the issue of fuel had been pending for a long time. Now, the cabinet has decided to source LNG on the spot market. The project will be ready by 2014 to coincide with the commissioning of Dabhol-Bangalore-Bidadi gas pipeline project,” Dr V S Acharya, minister for higher education, said.

Briefing reporters on the outcome of a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister B S Yedddyurappa, here on Thursday, he said the government would decide later on the fuel linkage for the second unit of the 700 Mw project. Presently, the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) is laying the 800-km gas pipeline. However, the exact amount of gas required for the 700 Mw first unit is yet to be ascertained, he said.

He said, presently, 53 per cent of the power produced in the state is consumed in Bangalore city and the Bidadi project would be very helpful in overcoming the shortage of power. The cabinet also approved development of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for the cities of Bangalore, Mysore and Hubli-Dharwad spanning over 220 kms at an estimated cost of Rs 1,700 crore.

 In Bangalore, the BRTS track would be developed between Hebbal and Silk Board Junction stretching up to 30 kms at a cost of Rs 550 crore. The city of Mysore would have a BRTS track of 160 kms at a cost of Rs 1,173 crore and Hubli-Dharwad twin cities will have 31 kms. The cost is yet to be ascertained for the twin cities, Acharya said.

He said, the BRTS system would help ease traffic congestion, as there would be dedicated tracks for city buses on the sides. This system is already functional in over 100 countries and many cities in India, including Ahmedabad, Indore among others.

“BRTS is a very efficient system of mass transport and it helps in decongesting city traffic. It would help BMTC increase its footfalls as it ensures better realisation at lower operational cost. The capacity utilisation would also go up as BMTC can run 25-30 kms per hour as against the present 10-15 kms, thus doubling its efficiency,” Akash Passey, managing director, Volvo Buses India said.

He said, Volvo would be very happy to help the state government operationalise the BRTS. Presently, Volvo operates BRTS in over 40 countries around the world, he said. The cabinet also cleared a proposal to set up a semiconductor chip design, testing and characterisation lab at a cost of Rs 7.20 crore at Electronic city.

The cabinet also decided to take up development of tourism infrastructure at Kemmannagundi in Chikmagalur district at a cost of Rs 49.5 crore. The government also plans to build a 25 km approach road to the upcoming Bellary airport at a cost of Rs 37 crore. A proposal to build a truck terminal spread over 13 acres at a cost of Rs 20 crore at Dasanapura was also cleared at the cabinet meeting.