MP to seek metro rail loan from ADB

Officials say, JICA to not fund metro rail projects anymore

Madhya Pradesh government will soon approach Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other funding agencies to seek funds for its Bhopal and Indore metro rail project. 

"We will put a formal proposal in this regard before state cabinet soon. We will now seek a loan from ADB for both the projects," Vivek Aggarwal, managing director of the Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Co Limited told Business Standard.

Earlier, the company and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a Japanese funding agency, reached an advanced stage of talks and proposal was forwarded to Union ministry of Economic Affairs to obtain a loan from JICA.

"JICA is not funding metro rail projects anymore so we have to look for other options. We will seek a loan from Asian Development Bank," he further said.

A total of Rs 5570.34 crore loan was sought from JICA with an equal equity partnership of Rs 1392.58 crore of Government of India and Madhya Pradesh for civil work, power supply, signaling, telecommunications and ticketing of Bhopal metro project. It was announced earlier that at least "certain kilometres" of track would be operational by December 2018. "It is now little delayed, yet we are expecting to start the project as soon as we get funding," the official said.

The first phase of Bhopal metro will cover a total length of 12 kilometers while the second phase will have 14 kilometres length across the city. The Bhopal project is expected to be completed by 2021. Similarly, Indore metro rail project require a funding of Rs 7100.50 crore of which Rs 5680 crore was sought from JICA. The state and Union government will chip in Rs 1420 crore each for the Indore project that will cover a total length of 32 kilometers across the city.

"The state government may also seek a loan through European Investment Bank or other funding agencies for a portion of the fund if needed," said another highly placed official. After State-JICA talks, it was expected that JICA will fund the project for a period of 30 years on minimum interest rates.

Both the projects, if funding comes soon, are expected to be completed by 2022, the official said.