European investment bank & BMRCL sign project pact on funding metro phase 2 line

BENGALURU: The

European Investment Bank

(EIB) has agreed to lend €500 million in two tranches, for funding Reach 6 (Gottigere to Nagavara) of Phase 2 of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will co-finance with EIB for €300 million. Thus the total loan amount will be €800 million for Reach 6,

BMRCL

said in a release.

The sovereign loan agreement for the first tranche of €300 million was signed between the government of India and EIB last year. The loan agreement for the second tranche from EIB will be signed before March 2019. These loans are untied and have a 20-year tenure, which includes 5 years moratorium for principal repayment.

The project agreement for the loan agreement of €300 million was signed on Tuesday by

Mahendra Jain

, MD of BMRCL and Sunita Lukkhoo, Senior Loan Officer on behalf of EIB, in the presence of senior government officials.

Bengaluru development minister KJ George asked EIB to consider funding other infrastructure projects undertaken by the state government. Sunita said that their support for BMRCL is an investment to improve city transport.

The financial support extended is the largest ever support for sustainable transport outside Europe. The EIB is the world's largest international public bank and is owned by the 28 European Union member states.

The financial support from EID would support one of the dense corridors in the metro network, which would subsequently connect to the Kempegowda International Airport.