Bengaluru: A Bengaluru-based industry body representing 500 companies and more than a million employees has urged the Karnataka government to put on hold the Rs 450-crore proposal to revamp the Outer Ring Road (ORR) until the Bengaluru Metro’s Blue Line is completed, arguing that it would help absorb traffic diverted during the road works.
In a letter to Greater Bengaluru Authority Chief Commissioner Maheshwara Rao on 14 August, the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) said the government “appears inconsistent” on its promise to carry out a consultative process before undertaking any major road works.
The government suggesting companies to allow Work From Home (WFH) to their employees during the road works is not a substitute for planning, the letter said.
“Work From Home cannot be a substitute for effective infrastructure planning and traffic management, nor should businesses first learn through the media that they may be expected to alter their operations because of public infrastructure works,” Manas Das, the President of ORRCA said in the letter.
A town hall conducted on 4 August by ORRCA to discuss the difficulties faced by companies operating along the road stretch was attended by Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Bengaluru district in-charge minister Krishna Byre Gowda.
The association said that the town hall meeting established that any interventions in the corridor would be “consultative, technically evaluated and carefully sequenced” with the completion of the Metro as the immediate priority.
The proposed Blue Line of the Bengaluru Metro–a 19-km stretch from Silk Board to K.R.Puram—which was set to become operational by the end of 2026—has now been pushed to 2027, adding to the challenges.
The Shivakumar-led Karnataka government has proposed a Rs 450 crore plan to concretise the ORR. The traffic diversion and blocks during the exercise would potentially bring the already choc-a-bloc traffic to a grinding halt in one of India’s most prolific technology corridors.
“Against this background, the proposed commencement of major carriageway works before Metro operations, and before completion of the agreed technical evaluation and stakeholder consultation, appears inconsistent with the understanding reached at the Townhall,” Das said in the letter.
ORRCA, which represents over 500 companies and approximately 1.3 million employees, estimated in September 2023 that traffic gridlocks on ORR result in an annual loss of around $15 billion.
“All actions relating to the proposed white-topping/major carriageway works be kept on hold, including tendering, award, issuance of work orders, contractor appointment, mobilization, preparatory works and physical execution, until the agreed consultation and technical evaluation are completed,” the association said.
Companies on ORR had in 2021 also rejected the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s suggestion that firms operating on ORR extend Covid-19 induced lockdown till December 2022.
The earlier Bus lane experiment, which worked well on ORR, was also shut down due to ongoing Metro construction, forcing a relapse to relying on private vehicles for commuting, which added to the traffic congestion.
“Metro completion and operational readiness remain the immediate priority, together with the ancillary works necessary to support its opening and restore the corridor,” ORRCA said.
It added that all plans to concretise the road (White-Topping) be presented to stakeholders before undertaking such a project.
They also demanded that a comprehensive traffic simulation, diversion and construction-management plan be drafted and an urgent meeting be convened with ORRCA before the proposed road works are taken up.
“Our concern is not with improving the ORR; it is with ensuring that a ₹450 crore investment is implemented in the right sequence, based on sound technical assessment and the consultative process already agreed.
“Given the importance of the ORR to Bengaluru’s economy and its position as a global technology and investment destination, we request your immediate intervention and written confirmation that the proposed works and all related tendering, contracting and mobilization activities will remain on hold pending completion of this process,” ORRCA said.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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