The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) on Wednesday came forward to extend a loan of ₹4,100 crore for the Visakhapatnam metro rail project. A delegation led by KEXIM Director (Operations) Yang Dong Chloe discussed the issue with Chief Secretary Anil Chandra Punetha, Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation Limited (AMRCL) Managing Director N.P. Ramakrishna Reddy and other officials at the Secretariat.

According to an official release, the Centre forwarded the AMRCL’s request for a soft loan to the KEXIM.

Mr. Punetha told the KEXIM executives that the project details and the documents required for processing the funding proposal would be sent to it.

Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy told The Hindu that the State government had asked the Centre to arrange a loan at 8% to 10% interest and the Centre wrote to the KEXIM to provide it. The proposal was considered but no decision had been taken yet.

A new Detailed Project Report (DPR) is being prepared for the Vijayawada light metro by Systra and RITES Limited. The original plan was to cover 27 km in two corridors limited to Vijayawada city. Subsequently, the State government had decided to extend it to Amaravati, taking the span to about 85 km.

The revised project is expected to cost over ₹17,000 crore for which funding is being tied up with German and French development banks KfW and AFD respectively. The Vijayawada project is likely to take more than a month for the final approvals by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as per the revised National Urban Transportation Policy.