The Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) has sanctioned a loan of Rs 700 crore to Namma Metro project of Bangalore.
A loan agreement will be signed between Hudco and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) shortly, a statement from the chief minister’s office, here said.
Karnataka chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda and S Suresh Kumar, minister for urban development, held a detailed discussion with V P Baligar, chairman and managing director, Hudco, in Delhi in this regard on Saturday.
Hudco has supported a total of 1,437 schemes in Karnataka involving a cost of Rs 71,026 crore, which include a loan component of Rs 14,779 crore till now. Out of Rs 14,779 crore loan component, Rs 8,357 crore has been released so far. An amount of Rs 4,180 crore has been sanctioned and Rs 3,672 crore released for housing projects. A total of 2.18 million housing units have been supported by Hudco, of which 96.77 per cent pert to economically weaker sections and low income groups.
Hudco has also sanctioned a total of 165 urban infrastructure projects in Karnataka with a total project cost of Rs 62,962.81 crore which include a loan component of Rs 10,599.41 crore. These infrastructure projects mainly consist of 42 water supply schemes, 15 IT parks, 21 roads and bridges, 27 commercial and 29 social infrastructure projects, the statement added.
The 42.3 km-long first phase of the Bangalore Metro project was estimated to cost Rs 11,609 crore. Earlier, in April this year, the Asian Development Bank approved a loan of $250 million to part-fund the project. The project is also funded by an official development assistance loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency via on-lending from the government of India alongside senior loans from commercial sources.
For 2011-12, the Karnataka government has announ-
More From This Section
ced financial assistance of Rs 683 crore in the budget. Out of Rs 11,609 crore, so far, the BMRCL has spent Rs 4,000 crore for the project, which is scheduled for completion by March 2013.
The Bangalore Metro is likely to decongest the city relieving the pressure on road transportation in Bangalore, which has more than 4 million vehicles, registered and 1,300 new vehicles are added every day. BMRCL, which secured the safety certificate from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) on September 23, is set to commence commercial services on the first reach of 7 kms from Baiyyappanahalli to M G Road on the East-West corridor.
After postponing the launch date three times, the BMRCL has now fixed the date as October 20 as a Deepavali gift to Bangaloreans.
A release from the CM’s office said: “Union urban development minister Kamal Nath will inaugurate the Bangalore Metro Rail on October 20. Sadananda Gowda and Suresh Kumar met Kamal Nath on Friday and Nath agreed to inaugurate the project as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unavailable for the launch.”