Ultra PRT

Embassy Group

pod taxi

BBMP

Bengaluru

KJ George

Karnataka

It’s a ridiculous idea to introduce such a huge project. If the government really wants a solution, it should spread awareness on public transport and should focus on well-designed long-term mobility. Srinivas Alavilli, Member, Citizens for Bangalore

This is a classic example of a pre-election project being awarded to friends. Rajeev Chandrashekhar, MP

Ujwala Metro Station

Company is in partnership with(worth Rs 26 lakh) and(Rs 1,800 cr); activists say it’s a project for the govtThere is something clearly rotten in theproject. A company that’s worth Rs 5 lakh is bidding for a project that is expected to cost Rs 2,000 crore, and doesn’t mind paying theRs 5 crore every year.The sole bidder for the pod taxi project is a consortium of three companies — M/s Embassy Property Developments Pvt Ltd, M/S Ultra PRT Pvt Ltd, and M/S Smart Personal Rapid Transit Systems Pvt Ltd.Ultra PRT claims to have run a pod taxi network of 7 km at Heathrow Airport.However, a tender document (a copy of which is with BM) confirms that the company’s net worth is just Rs 26 lakh, as on 31 March, 2017. This brings us to the question – how does a company, that has a net worth of a few lakhs claim to have run a pod system in London, or even take up a project inthat is expected to cost Rs 2,000 crore? There is Embassy Property Developments, of course, which partnered with Bengaluru Development Ministerfor the Embassy Golf Links project.SPRT Systems (according to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website) has an authorised capital of Rs 5 lakh, while the net worth of Embassy Property Developments is Rs 1,800 crore (as on March 31, 2017).The pod taxi project will cost about Rs 2,000 crore and will be taken up under the Design-Build-Finance-Operate model. The tender for it was called in December and the consortium had submitted its bid on the last day (January 10). The BBMP had fixed the financial capacity of the companies participating in the tender at a minimum of Rs 1,000 crore.Now, the BBMP has handed over the technical evaluation to Infrastructure Development Corporation (Karnataka) (iDECK), the official consulting agency ofGovernment, according to a source at iDECK.According to the tender document submitted by the company, which is available on the e-procurement of the bidding process, Ultra PRT (net worth: Rs 26 lakh) will have an equity of 5 per cent in the project, SPRT Systems (net worth: Rs5 lakh) will have 70 per cent equity, while the Embassy firm (worth Rs 1,800 crore) will have 25 per cent equity share in the project.A top engineer from the BBMP said: “The government took every step to ensure the pod taxi work from the Palike happens speedily. Recently, works such as the construction of cycle tracks and footpaths were moved to a special division of the BBMP so that the engineers concerned could focus only on pod taxi work.”A chief engineer from the Palike told Mirror that despite questions being raised on a conflict of interest because of the apparent link between KG George and Embassy Property Developments, “the tender would likely be awarded to the consortium” (which was the sole bidder, anyway) as the company defending the process was “transparent and legal”. “That is the reason the technical evaluation is taking place. The project will likely be awarded to them,” he said.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP, minced no words when he termed the project no more than a “gift for friends of the government”. “This is a classic example of a pre-election project being awarded to friends. This is a project that citizens didn’t ask for. Bengalureans have been begging for basic works such as filling of potholes, cleaning garbage, increasing affordable bus services for the poor, and such,” he said.Meanwhile, Srinivas Alavilli, member of the forum Citizens for Bangalore, reiterated that “pod taxis are not the solution to the city’s traffic problem. It’s a ridiculous idea to introduce such a huge project. If the government really wants a solution, it should spread awareness on public transport and should focus on well-designed long-term mobility. The pod taxis won’t be able to carry too much people at the same time. The government should promote buses and it should work with the traffic police and transport department. Also, it is highly inappropriate that a project such as this has political interference.”Urban expert Ashwin Mahesh has similar views. “Our current traffic problems are a result of inadequate number of buses and not enough pedestrian infrastructure. These two major problems have to be fixed. By increasing the number of buses and improving the condition of footpaths, we can reduce city’s traffic. But this [pod taxis] is a stupid idea,” he said.Bangalore mirror broke the story ‘KJ George’s biz partner makes a silent bid for Bengaluru’s pod of gold’ on January 11. It was then that Dhruv Manoj Patel, Director of SPRT Systems for its India operations, expressed his gratitude to George and the BBMP’s Special Commissioner, BM Vijay Shankar, for pushing the project.“This is the only place where work has progressed in just four months. We are very thankful to minister KJ George and Special Commissioner for pushing this project,” he had said.SPRT Systems has also deposited Rs 7.5 crore with the BBMP as security amount for participating in the bidding process. In its tender requirement, BBMP had asked for a minimum amount of Rs 5 crore per year from the bidder.SPRT Systems is keen to build the network -- identified by BBMP -- betweenin Whitefield and Trinity Metro Station with a total route length of 35 km and 43 stations, in the first phase. There will be 12 major PRT stations along this stretch — Agram, Domlur, Hotel Leela Palace, BEML, HAL Airport, Ferns City (Marathahalli), Gandhi Nagar, Brookefield, Parimala Sunridge, Nallurahalli, Virginia Mall and Whitefield. The pod system will act as a feeder for the Metro.In Phase-II, the government has asked for a pod network from Baiyappanahalli Metro Station to Nagawara Metro Station; which will then go to Manyata Tech Park and connect with KR Puram Metro Station. The total length of this track will be 28 km and it will have 38 stations.A total of 2,100 pods will run the stretch of 70 km at 30 pods/km. Each pod will be 3-metre-long and 2.2-metre-wide and will accommodate six passengers.When Mirror tried contacting Jitu Virwani, Chairman and Managing Director of Embassy group, the spokesperson of the company said: “Mr Jitu would not like to comment on it since he is not involved much in the project. Embassy has only 25% equity share in the project.”