PC greenlights Metro

Green signal for Metro Rail
The Times of India

The FM’s mention of Bangalore Metro in the Union budget is just a precursor — a shot in the arm — for what is on offer for the IT city’s dream project from the Centre.

Impressed by the statistics presented by Karnataka on the desperate need for the Metro in Bangalore, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has instructed the Union urban development ministry to allocate more money for the same. “The allocation has now gone up from Rs 200 crore for all Metro related projects in the country to Rs 600 crore. With this, the Union urban development ministry has asked Bangalore to draw more money — as much as we can utilise — instead of our allocated share of about Rs 100 crore this year,’’ Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Limited (BMRTL) managing director K.N. Shrivastava told The Times of India.

The Centre’s total share in the Rs 5,605 crore project is to be Rs 1,447 crore over seven years. Against this, initially, the Union had planned to give Rs 100 crore this year and Rs 70 crore the next financial year. “Now, with the PM’s support, we think we will be able to speed up the construction activity and draw up to Rs 200 crore this year, as only Bangalore Metro is in any position to take off and use additional allocation,” he said.

For this to happen, however, the state government is expected to meet the immediate requirement of about Rs 300 crore in the upcoming state budget. Karnataka, which has appointed Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as consultants, will raise the balance money through loans and if necessary, public bonds. Several foreign funding agencies, including the World Bank, the Japan Bank for Industrial Cooperation (JBIC), Asian Development Bank, apart from nationalised banks such as the Punjab National Bank, ICICI and Hudco, have come forward to offer loans. The DMRC has told Karnataka that it would go with the nationalised banks as they would be able to fund at much lower interest rates of 6 per cent to 6.5 per cent.