Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to fund Rs 2K crore for Namma Metro Phase-II project

BENGALURU: With the successful completion of Namma Metro’s Phase-I, lending institutions are readily coming on board to fund its 72.3 km Phase-II project. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a financial institution that caters to projects across Asia, has now conveyed its consent to fund up to Rs 2,000 crore for Nagawara-Gottigere Line.

This new North-South Line running into 21.25 km (Reach 6) will have the longest underground corridor under Phase-II. It is considered the most crucial line for the project as connectivity to the airport to the City will be extended from the Nagawara end in future. It will be the costliest of all lines in Phase-II and is set to cost Rs 11,014 crore out of the Rs 26,405-crore project.

Speaking to Express, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said, “The AIIB, headquartered in Beijing, has given its in-principle approval for 300 million Euros (Rs 2,000 crore). The amount needs to be repaid within 20 years.” Stating that it was a ‘soft loan,’ the MD said the annual rate of interest for the loan would be 2 per cent.
Official sources said the agreement will be inked in Beijing this week and top Metro officials will travel there for the purpose.

Just a month ago (October 5), the European Investment Bank and the Indian government signed a finance contract in New Delhi for funding for a similar sum of 300 million Euros from the bank for the Nagawara-Gottigere Line. The EIB will later offer an additional 200 million Euro for Phase-II. In 2015, the French funding agency, Agence Francaise De Development (AFD) extended a Rs 1,500-crore loan for Phase II.
The Nagawara-Gottigere Line has 18 stations of which six are elevated and the rest underground.

The 13.9-km underground section goes below the ground from Dairy Circle in the South to Nagawara in the North and comprises 12 stations: Dairy Circle, Mico Industries, Langford Town, Vellara, M G Road, Shivaji Nagar, Bamboo Bazaar, Pottery Town, Tannery Road, Venkateshpura, Arabic College and Nagawara. Land acquisition activities have begun. The tendering process has commenced with the underground contract divided into four packages to facilitate quick completion. Work is expected to commence in December 2017 and the completion deadline is end of 2020.
Phase-II is an extension of East-West and North-South lines of the Phase-I along with two new lines, including the Gottigere Line. It comprises 61 stations of which 12 are underground.