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