5 international agencies ready to fund Nagpur Metro project.

Five international funding agencies, including KFW of Germany, AFD of France and JICA of Japan, have shown interest in the funding the ₹8,680-crore Nagpur metro rail project. It is expected to be operational by 2018.

The special purpose vehicle Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (NMRCL) is executing the project, a joint venture of the Centre and the Maharashtra government.

He said 85 per cent of the land required for the project has been acquired. The budgetary grant of about ₹500 crore has already been sanctioned and construction has commenced on a 5-km stretch.

'As the land is already in place, lenders such as European Investment Bank, JICA and even a consortium Chinese banks have also shown interest in lending to the project,' Ramnath said.

'The work of raising funds usually takes about two years, but NMRC has managed to do it in less than six months. The debt would be provided without any encumbrances or preconditions,' he added.

He said that KFW could also consider granting another ₹400 crore for creating a network of electric taxis, which will pick up passengers from their homes and drop them at the metro station and vice versa. The stations will also serve as charging points for the cars.

Ramnath added that project designers would incorporate solar power panels in all the station buildings and other infrastructure being built by NMRC. From the panels, about 14 MW of power would be generated, which would account for 65 per cent of the power needs.


HBL