KfW to give €500 mn for Bengaluru Metro expansion

livemint.com:

Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) to provide €500 million (around ₹4,500 crore) in financial assistance for the expansion of the Bengaluru Metro. The funding, which includes loan and grants, will help the metro’s expansion plans as well as provide technical expertise to the metro project. KfW, which is looking to expand its funding for green energy and sustainable mobility projects in India, is also financing metro projects in Mumbai and Nagpur among other cities.

KfW’s India director Wolf Muth confirmed the development in an interview with Mint. Muth said that the funding would be used to construct new lines for the Bengaluru Metro, also called Namma Metro. “We bring in a lot of capacity and expertise with respect to environmental and social aspects.

So, we have high standards and these are things which have to be adapted in the project execution," said Muth. Queries mailed to the ministry of housing and urban affairs and the BMRCL, a special purpose vehicle tasked with implementing the metro project, went unanswered. KfW, which has been active in India since 1958, has also provided funds to other metro projects in the country.

In 2016, it provided a €500 million loan to the Indian government for the construction of a “modern and sustainable metro system" in Nagpur. “Together with the building of two metro lines covering a combined length of 38 km, the KfW promotional funds will be used for flyovers, stations, rail, traction and telecommunication systems as well as rolling stock," the bank announced in a press release at the time. Muth indicated that a similar process will be followed in the case of the Bengaluru Metro loan.