The Cabinet on Monday is learnt to have approved the construction of ‘twin towers’ at Anand Rao Circle in Bengaluru at an estimated cost of Rs 1,251 crore.
According to sources, the building will have up to 50 floors. The twin towers, which will have an area of 15 lakh sqft, will accommodate 40% central government offices and 60% state government. There will be 25 common meeting halls. It will be connected to both Kempegowda and Mantri Mall Metro stations, and an elevated pathway to Vidhana Soudha is also proposed, sources said.
The project will be taken up under public-private partnership (PPP) model. The National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd will implement this in consultation with the state government.
The ‘twin towers’ project was announced by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in his 2020-21 budget, for which Rs 400 crore was shown as expenditure. The idea is “to facilitate all the government departments to function in one building.”
The Cabinet also cleared “planned and successful implementation of New Education Policy notified by the Central government,” while Bills to set up three new private universities - New Horizon University, Atria University and Acharya University - were referred to a Cabinet sub-committee.
Administrative approval for the revised detailed project report of the Upper Bhadra Project, which will cost Rs 21,473.67 crore, was also cleared, sources said. In a statement, Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi said 60% of funding for the project will be by the Centre and 40% will be borne by the state. He also said that the Centre will soon declared this as a national project.
The Cabinet is understood to have deferred its decision on granting permission for round-the-clock mining and transportation of major minerals in the state.
Environmentalist Saalu marada Thimmakka will get three acres of gomala land for agricultural purpose, the Cabinet decided. The land is situated in Madigondanahalli in Ramanagara district. The Cabinet also cleared 101 acres land for the Tourism department to construct a ropeway between Kolluru and Kodachadri Hill in Udupi district.
The Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Karnataka State Mental Health Care Rules, 2020, the University of Horticultural Sciences (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Karnataka Education Department Services (Department of Public Instructions)(Recruitment)(Amendment) Rules, 2020 were approved by the Cabinet, sources said.