On November 19, 2020, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Govt of India, National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC) and New Development Bank (NDB) of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa) Nations signed a loan agreement for lending USD 500 Million (~ INR 3708 Crores) for the ‘Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Project (RRTS)’ in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The loan will be used for construction of a 82.15 kms length (68.03 kms elevated and 14.12 km underground) RRTS Corridor connecting Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut.
Objective:
To Develop an efficient and sustainable regional transport system to reduce traffic congestion in Delhi.
Agreement Signed by:
The agreement was signed by Baldeo Purushartha, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Janardan Prasad, Director of Urban Transport (MRTS-I), MoHUA, Vinay Kumar Singh, Managing Director of NCRTC on behalf of India and Xian Zhu, Vice President, Chief Operations Officer on behalf of NDB.
Financial Aspect:
i.The Total cost of the project is USD 3, 759 Million.
ii.The projects will be financed through loans of USD 2, 049 Million from NDB (500 Million), Asian Development Bank (1, 049 Million), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (500 Million), Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (3 Million). iii.The remaining USD 1, 707 Million will be funded by the Government of India and other sources.
Key Points:
i.The loan from NDB has a tenor of 25 years with an 8-year Grace period.
ii.The MoHUA,Government of India is the Executing Agency & NCRTC will be the Implementing Agency.
iii.RRTS has been designed for a speed of 180 km per hour, and will reduce travel time between Delhi-Meerut to 1 hour.
iv.It is expected to be completed by August, 2027.
National Capital Region (NCR):
NCR is among the world’s largest urban agglomerations and a major economic centre of India.
i.Due to lack of efficient public transportations in NCR around 63% of people use Private Vehicles for commuting.
ii.This has led to increased traffic congestion and has also made it as one of the most polluted regions in the world.
iii.NCR is projected to become the most populous urban agglomeration by 2030 which will increase pressure on basic infrastructures such as housing, water supply, electricity and Transport.
Recent Related News:
i.October 1, 2020 NDB of BRICS Nations approved USD 241 Million (approximately INR 1760 Crores) for Mumbai Metro Rail Project.
About New Development Bank (NDB):
President – Marcos Troyjo
Headquarters – Shanghai, China
