Center & NDB Ink Rs. 3,700 Cr loan for Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS

New Development Bank NDB logo

On 19th November 2020, Government of India signed a loan agreement with New Development Bank (NDB) for USD 500 million (approx. Rs. 3,700 crores) for funding Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) Corridor being  implemented by National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC*).

The project agreement was signed by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), NCRTC and NDB.

NDB Loan and its Utilization

GoI, NCRTC, NDB loan signing

This NDB loan will have a tenure of 25 years, with an eight-year grace period. It shall be utilized to finance rolling stock, signaling system, operational structures, train control & telecommunication system. Also for creating residences for operations staff and other miscellaneous works of the corridor.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Vinay Kumar Singh Managing Director NCRTC said, “This is a unique multilateral funding arrangement that allows Make in India provision in procurements. This loan agreement with NDB will be a shot in the arm for NCRTC’s efforts of developing indigenous capacity” as per NCRTC’s announcement date 19th November 2020.

Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS

NCRTC logo

It is a semi-high speed rail corridor connecting Delhi to Meerut via Ghaziabad, and covering a distance of 82 Km with 24 stations. Total estimated project cost is Rs. 30,274 crore (USD 3,749 million). The project is co-financed by Asian Development Bank (USD 500 million) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (USD 1,049 million) along with NDB.

17-km section between Sahibabad and Duhai is likely to be operationised by 2023 and complete project is expected to be opened by 2025.

Recently, on 11th November Larsen & Toubro (L&T) bagged an order worth Rs.723.35 cr. for construction of elevated viaduct from end of Shatabdi Nagar station to Brahmpuri DN ramp and from Begumpul UP ramp to Modipuram end.

*NCRTC is a joint venture company of Government of India (50%) and States of Delhi (12.5%), Haryana (12.5%) , Rajasthan (12.5%) and Uttar Pradesh (12.5%). It is formed for the implementation of Regional Rapid Transit System projects across National Capital Region (NCR).