JICA to fund Delhi Metro phase III

Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) will fund Delhi Metro’s Phase 3 project beginning December this year. The 105km long Phase 3 will cost `32,000 crore and will have a debt-equity ratio of 60:40. This means that the Delhi government and the Central government will contribute 30% each while the rest will be raised by soft loans provided by the JICA. The loans will carry an interest rate of 1.4% and have to be repaid in 30 years with a grace period of 10 years. JICA had funded Phase 1 and 2 of the Delhi Metro as well with its share of the finances being 60% and 55% respectively. Phase 3 has seen this share dip further to 40 percent as Delhi Metro’s need for monetary assistance reduces.