The Chennai Metro Rail (CMRL) is in talks with international financial institutions to secure funding for Phase II and is confident of securing the finances from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for one part of the project.
As the ₹14,600-crore phase I inches to a close, the CMRL has been looking for funds for the 108-km Phase II to be operational in three corridors.
As it awaits the Central nod, the CMRL has been in talks with JICA for over a year. “This is the first time we have requested a loan from the ADB,” said a CMRL official.
There will be three corridors in phase II - Madhavaram to Siruseri (via Virugambakkam), Madhavaram to Sholinganallur (via Mylapore) and CMBT to Light House.
“The CMRL has asked for funding from the ADB for the corridor connecting CMBT and Light House. We have started talks with the bank officials and are hopeful of securing the loan for this stretch,” the official said.
For the other two corridors — Madhavaram to Siruseri and Madhavaram to Sholinganallur, the CMRL has been holding negotiations with the JICA, officials said.
Amount not specified
Officials, however, refused to mention the amount of loan sought from the ADB. While the entire cost of phase II goes up to nearly ₹80,000 crore, a part of loan will come from JICA and another from ADB. The State and Centre will pitch in for this project.
Of the 108 km, the CMRL will start construction on two stretches — Madhavaram to CMBT and Madhavaram to Sholinganallur. This will cover 52 km and cost around ₹44,000 crore, officials said. The 17.12-km CMBT-Light House line with 20 stations will be fully underground in the the heart of the city. There will be two interchanges at Nandanam and Thirumayilai.
For the entire phase I covering 45 km of the city and the phase I extension project covering 9 km in the north Chennai, the CMRL got partial funding from JICA. While the CMRL achieved financial closure for phase I in the first year itself, it has been finding it difficult to get funding for phase II.
“When phase I began, there were not many cities that were planning Metro in the country. So the Central nod and funds were easy to get. Now, the situation is different. The Centre has to divide its funding for Metros in cities in various States,” said a government official in the know-how.