Kochi Metro to sign loan agreement with Canara Bank

KOCHI: Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) will sign a term loan agreement with Canara Bank for an amount of Rs 1,170 crore here on July 20.

The agreement in this regard will be signed between Canara Bank and KMRL in the presence of Kerala Power and Transport Minister Aryadan Mohammed; Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director R K Dubey and KMRL Managing Director, Elias George, a Kochi Metro press release said today.

Canara Bank loan is for a term of 19.5 years with a seven year moratorium. The rate of the floating interest will be 10.80 per cent.

The total cost of the Kochi Metro project is Rs 51,181 crore, in which Rs 2,170 is from external funding. KMRL had already signed agreement with Agence Française de Développement for 180 million Euros on February 8. Now with the Canara Bank loan, the approved external funding requirements of KMRL is met and financial closure is formally completed.

"With the robust financial assistance through a balanced mix of external and domestic funding from two of the most reputed funding agencies, KMRL can now go ahead confidently with the project implementation. This will boost the confidence of stakeholders of the project and would enable us to rope in the best resources for the project at a competitive price," Elias George said.