Japan to give city 71 bn yen for Colaba-Seepz Metro line

In a boost to the ambitious Metro-III project, the Japanese government, on Wednesday, agreed to provide 71 billion yen and technical support for the underground Colaba-Seepz via Bandra line of the project.

In a boost to the ambitious Metro-III project, the Japanese government, on Wednesday, agreed to provide 71 billion yen and technical support for the underground Colaba-Seepz via Bandra line of the project.

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While the currency conversion comes to Rs4,000 crore, MMRDA officials claimed the aid from Japan will come to Rs13,000 crore.

The move comes in the wake of the exchange of notes between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe for yen loan totalling to $424 billion for eight rail projects.

The funding for Metro-III will be provided through an agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), an independent government agency that aims to assist in the economic and social growth of developing countries.

Touted to be underground, the plan had hit a hurdle as getting funds for it was becoming difficult.

UPS Madan, metropolitan commissioner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the nodal agency for the project, said that the news has provided them relief.

“The next step will be to get an approval from the Union cabinet committee which is expected to come in the next 10 days. Once the nod comes through, we will sign an agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency for the Rs13,000 crore loan for the project,” Madan said.

The JICA will provide 56% of the cost of the project.

The remaining cost of the Rs24,500-crore project will be borne by the state and Central governments.

“We will pay the loan amount at an interest rate of 1.4 per cent, which is to be paid over 30 years,” said SVR Shrinivas, additional MMRDA commissioner. The 33.5km fully underground metro corridor will run from Colaba to Seepz via Bandra. A few Japanese companies -- Kawasaki, Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Nippon -- have shown interest in the development of the project.