Mumbai metro line 3 gets Rs 2,480 cr Jica loan

Mumbai, Mar 27 () Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) has signed an agreement with the central government to provide an official development assistance (ODA) loan of 39,928 million yen (around Rs 2,480 crore) for Mumbai Metro Line 3.

The ODA loan agreement was signed between the finance ministry and Katsuo Matsumoto, the chief representative of Jica in India.

Matsumoto said, "Given the population of Mumbai, there is an essential need for the metro project in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Mass rapid transport systems also help in reducing pollution caused by private vehicles and improving living conditions".

With a total of 33.7 km, entailing 26 stations, the Line 3 or the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz line is planned to connect southern part of the city with the major activity areas like Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the airport, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation area and Seepz area.

The fully underground project is scheduled for completion by 2021.

Overall, Jica has so far extended concessional ODA loans worth over 1 trillion yen (around Rs 60,000 crore) for the development of metro systems in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. BEN BALBAL