Rs 624 crore German aid for city transport projects

KOCHI:  Kochi will get financial aid of 80 million euro, approximately Rs 624 cr, for the development of the urban transport sector. This is believed to be one of the highest foreign aid it has got.
KFW, the German government-owned bank based in Frankfurt, has offered the soft loan for water transport projects, constituting special purpose vehicle for road transport and formation of Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA). The funds will be released in the current fiscal itself.

During a meeting between Kochi Metro Rail managing director Elias George and KFW representatives held in New Delhi on Wednesday, the bank has formally offered the financial assistance. However, the terms and conditions of the loan, including interest rate, moratorium if any, would be announced later, said Mayor Tony Chammany during a press conference.

The loan will be provided to KMRL, which is the nodal agency for urban transport sector projects.  KFW has offered the loan based on a feasibility study report on water transport of Kochi, commissioned by Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) and prepared by Manila based agency Global Works in 2012. Based on the report, the CDIA proposed a project worth Rs 400 cr, for identifying new ferry routes, modernisation of boat jetties, launching of fast and modern vessels.

 “The funds will be used for the water transport projects, formation of SPV for road transport and UMTA. To get the loan, the state government has to write a letter to the Centre and also a detailed project report has to be prepared,” the Mayor said.

The civic body has earlier requested the CDIA authorities to identify possible funding sources for the water transport projects and was in talks with various financial institutions which fund international projects. “In 2013, a letter was sent to KFW. After reviewing the feasibility study report, the German bank expressed interest in providing funds and its officials were here for discussions,” the mayor added.