The Maharashtra government and the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC), on Thursday, signed a Subsidiary Finance Agreement (SFA) to fund projects which are under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project-3 (MUTP-3) to expand the railway connectivity between Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) through a suburban railway corridor in the city. The state government and the MRVC will be in charge of implementing the projects.
The projects initiated through MUTP-3 and under which the agreement has been signed comprises of a new upraised suburban corridor between Airoli and Kalwa railway station, quaternary of the lines of Vihar and Dahanu Road, railway corridor between the Panvel and Karjat railway stations along with the purchase of air-conditioned local trains.
The overall cost of the project is expected to be a whopping amount of Rs 10,947 crore, out of which will be elevated through loans and the rest of the amount will be funded on a 50:50 share basis between the Ministry of Railways and the state.
MUTP-3 received approval for the project from the Central government in 2016 and had a deadline of 2020 for completion of it. In August 2019, the Maharashtra government announced that the projects under MUTP-3 are necessary and beneficial for the state.
The negotiations to raise $500 million with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have been finalised by the MRVC which they are likely to sign on July end. One of the prerequisites for signing the loan with the AIIB was to enter into a subsidiary financial agreement with the state.
"The loan agreement with AIIB is being vetted by the Department of Economic Affairs and is expected to be finalised by July-end," a senior MRVC official stated. RS Khurana, chairman and director of MRVC said, "A financial agreement was signed with the state government. It includes projects of MUTP-3."
Funding from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) will also be included in the agreement.
In 2019, the land acquisition was initiated for the projects while the on-ground operations are expected to start this year post-monsoon season.
Edited by:
Khevna Pandit
