In a press statement, the Shanghai based bank said that its Board of Directors approved a loan of USD 500 million for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) Project and a loan of USD 241 million for Mumbai Metro Rail II (Line 6) Project.
The loan for Delhi NCR region would be used by Government of India for on-lending to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC) for construction of a rapid rail corridor connecting the National Capital Territory of Delhi with the cities of Ghaziabad and Meerut located in the State of Uttar Pradesh. The RRTS will have a total length of 82.15 km (68.03 km elevated and 14.12 km underground) with 25 stations. It will have a design speed of 180 km per hour, maximum operating speed of 160 km per hour and high-frequency operations, which will reduce the journey time from Delhi to Meerut to 60 minutes. The Project will develop an efficient and sustainable regional transport system and reduce congestion in Delhi, by offering people the alternative of settling in surrounding cities and being able to commute to Delhi through a fast, reliable, safe and comfortable public transport system.
The loan for Mumbai Metro will be used by the Government of India for on-lending to the Government of the State of Maharashtra for implementing a metro rail Line 6 with length of about 14.47 km in the city of Mumbai. Line 6 will provide much needed rail-based connectivity between the western and eastern suburbs and will contribute towards an integrated seamless public transport network in Mumbai. The Project will be implemented by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.
The NDB is also supporting the implementation of metro lines in Mumbai with length totalling to about 58 km (Line 2 and Line 7) by financing of the Mumbai Metro Rail Project approved by the NDB in November, 2018.
“NDB is strongly committed to supporting its member countries in the time of COVID-19, including by providing much needed crisis-related emergency assistance, said Mr. Marcos Troyjo, President of the NDB who recently replaced Mr. K. V. Kamath. The NDB was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS countries and other emerging economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development. According to the NDB’s General Strategy, sustainable infrastructure development is at the core of the Bank’s operational strategy for 2017-2021.
Anushuman Mishra/Beinjing