As Metro Phase II draws to a close, eyes on new lines

As Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) races to complete all its under-construction lines before the Commonwealth Games this year, it has been allocated Rs 2,780 crore in the Budget. Of this, Rs 650 crore is equity and Rs 2,130 crore will come as part of the loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The money will be used to fund Delhi Metro’s ongoing 128km-long Phase II.

The outlay for 2010-11 is less than Rs 3,552.2 crore granted last year. But this, officials say, is because the project is nearing completion. ‘‘Phase II construction is about 82% complete and about 72% of the total estimate of Rs 19,131 crore has been already been paid. The allocated amount is adequate for DMRC at present, and if additional funding is required it can be procured through the revised estimates and supplementary grants later in the year,’’ said Kumar Keshav, director (projects), DMRC. Unlike the previous Budget, there is no allocation under the head of subordinate debt this year as no new lines have been planned and the land acquisition for existing lines was accounted for in the past budgets.

Till March 31, DMRC has a sum of Rs 10,166.9 crore, which includes the JICA loan received through the Centre. To fund the phase, 49.16% of the amount is sourced through the JICA loan from Japan, 20.72% through equities from Centre, another 20.72% through equities from Delhi government, 6.67% via subordinate debt (towards cost of land), 2.01% from property development and 0.72% from miscellaneous grants (for Noida/Gurgaon lines).

This year’s allocation doesn’t include any money for Delhi Metro’s Phase III as it is yet to be approved by Delhi government. DMRC is in the final stages of preparing Detailed Project Reports for the new Metro lines proposed as part of Phase III, which will be spread across 112 km.