Kochi: Kochi Metro Rail Limited signed an agreement for additional term loan of Rs 366 crore with the Ernakulam District Cooperative Bank for funding land acquisition requirements for the ongoing Metro Rail project here.
The Ernakulam District Cooperative Bank had earlier sanctioned Rs.470 crore for KMRL.
“However, since the amount of Rs 104 Crore, which will be required for widening of Vyttila- Petta road, needs cabinet approval, KMRL and DCB signed agreement only for Rs 366 crore as the first tranche,” a KMRL statement said here.
The cabinet approval on this is expected in a month’s time and the agreement for the rest of the amount will be signed separately after this, it said.
KMRL also decided to explore the possibility of obtaining a supplementary loan for land acquisition as the Kerala government was unable to release sufficient funds as required to complete the land acquisition.
“This loan will be subject to repayment by the Government of Kerala from their annual budgetary provisions over a period of 12 years.
“The loan will be available for a floating interest rate of 9.95 per cent, which is linked to SBI’s base rate of interest and with no attached charges including processing fee,” the statement added.
The first phase of the Kochi Metro project is expected to be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 5,181 crore. It is expected to be completed by mid-2016.
