ADB, India sign record $926 million loan for two new Mumbai metro lines

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $926 million loan to operationalize two lines for the Mumbai Metro Rail System that will ease the distress of millions of commuters each day and help provide a cleaner, less congested city.

The single largest infrastructure project loan in ADB history—approved by the ADB Board on 26 February—will help fund lines 2A (Dahisar to D.N. Nagar), 2B (D.N. Nagar–Bandra–Mandale), and 7 (Dahisar [East] to Andheri [East]), totaling about 58 kilometers (km). The project will fund 63 six-car trains, signaling and safety systems, and help establish a new dedicated metro operations organization to manage the entire metro network in Mumbai. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will implement the project.

Once operational by the end of 2022, an estimated 2 million passengers a day will use the two new lines, traveling in improved safety and comfort. It will also reduce emissions from vehicles, with carbon dioxide emissions expected to fall by about 166,000 tons a year.

“ADB financing will ease travel for millions of commuters across Mumbai, help decongest heavily crowded suburban rail systems, and contribute to providing modern, clean, and livable urban environment to its citizens,” said Mr. Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission who signed the loan agreement for ADB.

Mumbai, with a population of about 12 million, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra and renowned as the financial capital of India. Maharashtra accounts for about 15% of India’s gross domestic product, about 40% of which is generated from the Mumbai metropolitan region. Rail is the primary means of transport in Mumbai, where the suburban network totals almost 400 km and carries more than 7.5 million passengers a day.

The project marks ADB’s first co-financing with the Shanghai-based New Development Bank, which will provide $260 million toward the metro systems project. The MMRDA will implement civil works and other related components for the lines 2A, 2B, and 7.

Original source: ADB
Published on 01 March 2019