Namma Metro Phase 2: BMRCL Gets Loan Of Rs 1,700 Crore From European Investment Bank

The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) will receive Rs 1,700 crore (200 million Euros) in loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for phase-2 of the Namma Metro Rail Project, The New Indian Express reports.

On Friday (11 January), the MD of BMRCL, Ajay Seth, and director of EIB’s Global Partners Department, Maria Shaw Barragan, signed the agreement. Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Deputy CM and Minister of Bengaluru Development G Parameshwara, as well as other senior officers, were also present when the agreement was signed.

CM Kumaraswamy thanked the bank for providing the loan at a low-interest rate.

“This is a positive development in the interest of projects in the city, and we look forward for assistance from EIB in the future as well. The Metro project is being developed to control pollution due to increasing vehicles in Bengaluru, which has a population of over 11 million,” he said.

BMRCL will receive 500 million Euros from EIB in two tranches for the cost of Reach 8 line (Gottigere to Nagawara) of Phase-2. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will also be co-financing the project alongside EIB for 300 Million Euros, totalling the lending amount to 800 million Euros for the Reach-8 line.

The first tranche loan agreement of 300 million Euros was signed in October 2017 by the Government of India and EIB. The second tranche loan agreement was signed in September 2018. All the loans are untied and will have a tenure of 20 years, including a 4-year moratorium for repayment of the principal amount.