Loan will cover high-speed train-related facilities
New Development Bank (NDB) is lending US$500 million for the ‘Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) Project’ for rolling stock for modern design, energy-efficient operations and interoperability across corridors.
“NDB fund will also be utilized for procuring signalling, telecommunication and train control system with advanced features such as automatic train operation, automatic train protection, automatic train supervision and integration with platform screen doors,” NDB Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Xian Zhu said signing the financing agreement on 19 Nov 2020.
Besides NDB, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (US$500 million), Asian Development Bank (USD 1.049 billion), Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (US$3 million), and Government and Other sources (US$1.707 billion) are lending for the project, estimated to cost US$3.749 billion when completed.
The NDB loan has a tenor of 25 years with an 8-year grace period.
The agreement was signed by Baldeo Purushartha, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, on behalf of the Government of India; Janardan Prasad on behalf of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and Vinay Kumar Singh, Managing Director on behalf of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited.
“Seamless high-speed connectivity will result in balanced economic development across the region leading to economic benefits to all strata of society and many nodes of development rather than all economic activity happening at one place, said Purushartha.
The National Capital Region (NCR) is among the world’s largest urban agglomerations and a major economic centre of India.
The daily passenger traffic along the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor in NCR is estimated at 0.69 million, of which 63% utilize private vehicles for commuting.
Rapid growth in vehicular traffic has made NCR one of the most polluted regions in the world.
By 2030, NCR is projected to become the most populous urban agglomeration in the world, which will increase pressure on basic infrastructures such as housing, water supply, electricity and transport, said the Finance Ministry.
The fast transit system will support in achieving the goal of sustainable urban development in the NCR region including the National Capital Territory of Delhi. #infrastructure #banking #loan #tenders #projects /fiinews.com
