Bengaluru Metro: In the coming years, Bengaluru Metro rail network to expand! On Thursday, a loan agreement worth Rs 3,643 crore was signed by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to complete two important routes along the Outer Ring Road as well as Airport Metro Corridor, covering a length of 58.19 kilometres in total. The Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) of BMRCL, B L Yashavanth Chavan was quoted in a PTI report saying that the agreement was signed between the Managing Director of BMRCL Anjum Parvez, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Director Janardan Prasad and Asian Development Bank Country Director Takeo Konishi.
Chavan said on March 26, this year, another loan agreement was signed by the corporation with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the same project for an amount of Rs 2,317 crore. The Indian government had given its nod for the implementation of phase 2A (Silk Board to KR Puram) as well as phase 2B (KR Puram to Bengaluru International Airport) project for a route length of 58.19 kilometres at an estimated cost of Rs 14,788 crore, according to the CPRO of BMRCL. Chavan further stated that the state and central governments will contribute an amount of Rs 3,973 crore by way of equity and subordinate debt.
The cost of land acquisition of Rs 2,762 crore will be borne by the state government of Karnataka. The Rs 5,960 crore external assistance amount was to be raised by way of a loan from bilateral or multilateral funding agencies, for which the agreements were done, Chavan added. Another source from BMRCL was quoted in the report saying the arrangement of the remaining amount of Rs 2,093 crore would be done through external means, which could be another agreement of loan with a financial institution.
