NDB approves $500m loan for Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS

The New Development Bank (NDB) has approved a $500m loan for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project in India.

The funds will be used by the National Capital Region Transport (NCRTC), the entity implementing the RRTS project, for the construction of the rapid rail system.

The 82.15km-long RRTS will connect the capital of Delhi to the cities of Ghaziabad and Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

It is designed to enable train operations at a maximum speed of 160km/h, reducing the journey time from Delhi to Meerut to 60 minutes.

The rapid rail system will feature 25 stations.

This comes more than a month after the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $1bn loan for the development of Delhi–Meerut RRTS.

Separately, the NDB Board allocated a $241m loan for the Mumbai Metro Rail II (Line 6) Project.

The loan amount will be used by the Maharashtra state government to implement the metro project.

The 14.47km metro line will provide the local commuters with a faster transportation alternative and help in alleviating traffic congestion.

Line 6 will provide metro connectivity between the western and eastern suburbs, as well as be implemented by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

Overall, NDB approved five project proposals with a combined commitment of $1.03bn.

NDB president Marcos Troyjo said: “NDB is strongly committed to supporting its member countries in the time of Covid-19, including by providing much needed crisis-related emergency assistance.

“At the same time, NDB remains fully operational, financing infrastructure and sustainable development projects in line with its mandate and addressing development challenges faced by the bank’s member countries.”