Mumbai:
The Japanese are most likely to fund the first-ever partially underground metro in the city. According to sources in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the state has forwarded a proposal to the Centre to let the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) fund the third line of metro from Colaba to Bandra.
A senior MMRDA official said that the proposal was finalised and sent to the state government which gave a green nod to it and forwarded it to the Centre's department of urban development. "As per the proposal, a major portion of the underground metro-III will be funded by JICA. The project cost is approximately Rs 12,000 crore.
As per our estimates, the viability gap of the project was approximately Rs 9,000 crore. We are looking at JICA to fund this gap. However, the final financial model is yet to be fine-tuned as the project will not be a private-public partnership one while the construction is on," informed the official.
Initially, the World Bank was also keen to sponsor metro projects in the city. There were at least two meetings held between the officials of the WB and MMRDA. However, according to sources in the authority, JICA was preferred as their terms and conditions were much more flexible than that of WB.
"JICA gives loan on a project basis, while the WB loan is specifically given to the Centre from where it is disbursed. While the interest rate of JICA remains a constant 1.5 to 1.75%, WB interest rate is 4 to 5%. Moreover, there is some central assistance aid which is added to the WB interest component, making it a bit expensive for the project implementing agencies. Considering all these facts, we decided to apply for JICA loan instead of WB," said the official.
The third line will be partially underground between Colaba and Mahalaxmi. At Mahalaxmi, it will start its elevated journey up to Bandra. The authority had earlier mooted for an entire underground portion, however, later changed plans -- thanks to non-viability of the alignment.
Initially, the Centre had assured the authority that it will fund the third line partially. However, when it realised that the viability gap for the third line was much above what it was expecting, it backed out.
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