ADB, JICA line up loans for Delhi-SNB RRTS

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have started evaluating loan proposals for the 106.5-km Delhi-SNB (Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Behrod) Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) line. These loan proposals are in addition to the $457 million proposal from the World Bank. The agencies’ names first appeared in the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) procurement form in 2020 as a project financer. According to ADB updates, on October 11, its team approved a concept proposal to lend the project $1,382 million. ADB is already financing the 82.15-km Delhi-Meerut RRTS line with a $1.049 billion loan approved by its board in August 2020. Its proposed loan of approximately Rs 114.16 billion would be applied for the construction and system procurement of a second semi-high-speed rail line in Delhi-NCR. The line to SNB will have a design speed of 180 km/h and an operating speed of 160 km/h, the same as the Meerut line. It will eventually be expanded 35 km to Sotanala and 58 km to Alwar in the south. The NCRTC and JICA have also been in communication since 2019. According to the World Bank’s project information document, JICA is appraising a loan of $890 million (Rs 73.52 billion). See also: Railways to upgrade 1,000 small stations under new schemeSiemens bags $3.2-bn order for 1,200 freight locomotives