Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after presenting the Karnataka State Budget 2026-2027 at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on March 6, 2026. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Karnataka government has allocated ₹500 crore from the state budget for the long-delayed Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP), Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Friday. The allocation comes on top of the ₹500 crore announced by the Union government in the Union Budget 2026-27 earlier this year, officials of the Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited (KRIDE) said.
In his Budget speech, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that land acquisition for Corridor-2, connecting Benniganahalli and Chikkabanavara, has already been completed and construction work is currently underway. He set the deadline for December 2030.
Speaking to The Hindu, a KRIDE official said, “Since the project is a 50:50 joint venture between the state and the Centre, the state government has now allocated ₹500 crore in the budget, while the Union government has announced ₹500 crore in the Union Budget presented in February 2026.”
However, activists said the allocation was not enough to speed up the delayed commuter rail project. Rajkumar Dugar, founder of Citizens for Citizens (C4C), said the state government’s allocation did not reflect a strong commitment to the project. “A mere ₹500 crore does not show much interest from the state government at this stage. The Chief Minister did not talk about Corridor-1, which is the most important corridor and was ignored,” he told The Hindu.
Corridor-1, also known as Sampige Line, is a 41.4 km stretch connecting KSR Bengaluru City to Devanahalli via Yelahanku and includes 15 stations. According to Mr. Dugar, the corridor was crucial for the connectivity of Bengaluru and was an important stretch that connects the airport and should be prioritized.
41 km metro extension promised by 2026 despite project’s slow progress
Mr. Siddaramaiah announced that the Bengal Metro network is expected to expand by 41 km by the end of 2026, despite the relatively slow progress of ongoing construction work on the upcoming Pink and Blue Namma Metro lines.
The proposed extension includes the Pink Line corridor between Kalena Agrahara and Tavarekere (21.26 km) and the Blue Line section from Silk Board Junction to KR Pura (19.75 km).
Officials from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) said the Pink Line is expected to open in phases. The 7.5 km long section was expected to be operational by May 2026, while the entire underground corridor was expected to be completed by December 2026.
According to BMRCL officials, for the Blue Line, the KR Pura-Silk Board Junction (19.75 km) section is expected to open by December 2026. The remaining sections will follow in phases, with the Hebbal-Airport section (27.44 km) likely to open by June 2027 and the KR Pura-Hebbal section (11.7 km) in December (120 km)
Published – 06 March 2026 20:18 IST
