Bengaluru: Namma Metro’s Phase II has received a shot in the arm with the European Investment Bank (EIB) granting a loan of about Rs 3,650 crore (500 million Euros). EIB is the leading financier for Phase II and the second international lender to fund the 72-km project.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) is expected to use this money for the construction of the 23-km Gottigere-Nagawara line, which consists of 12 underground and six elevated stations. The deal was approved on July 14 with a repayment period of 20 years. In 2015, French funding agency Agence Francaise De Development (AFD) extended a Rs 1,500-crore loan for Phase II.
This is in addition to the Rs 810 crore that the AFD lent for the now complete Phase I.
The total cost of Phase II is an estimated Rs 26,404 crore. Of this, the Centre and the State are granting Rs 5,281 crore and Rs 8,983 crore respectively. BMRCL has to raise Rs 12,140 crore in the form of debt.
Three foreign lending institutions have backed Phase II. Other than AFD and EIB, BMRCL is also in the final stages of discussion with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
“The AIIB team was here for three days. The appraisal process is over and the matter is before the AIIB board for approval. We are expecting Rs 2,300 crore from them,” BMRCL managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola said.
It was speculated that the corporation was expecting a loan of Rs 3,600 crore from the Ger man Development Bank (KFW). BMRCL, however, denied any such development. ” A total of Rs 7,400 crore loan is being raised from AFD, AIIB and EIB. We are not in talks with the German-bank,” Kharola said.
About the options before them, Kharola said: “We will raise longterm loans from domestic institutions (as the interest rate has come down) as well as by floating bonds. In total, we expect to raise a total of Rs 2,500 crore.” He did not disclose details on how the corporation will manage to bridge the gap of about `3,000 crore. This sum is crucial for the construction of the RV Road Bommasandra and the Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield lines.
For Phase I of the project, BMRCL availed loans from Japan International Cooperation Agency (Rs 3,700 crore), Asian Development Bank (Rs 1,600 crore), Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Rs 700 crore) and France’s AFD (Rs 810 crore).
