New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS): The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed an agreement for a 37 billion Japanese yen ($250 million) loan that will continue financing the construction of the 82-km Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor.

Earlier in 2020, ADB had approved a $1,049 million Multi-tranche Financing Facility (MFF) for the project to support the construction of RRTS, the first of three priority rail corridors planned under the NCR Regional Plan 2021, to connect Delhi with other cities in the adjoining states.

The RRTS will have multi-modal hubs to ensure smooth interchange with other transport modes. The first tranche of the ADB loan amounted to $500 million with another $500 million co-financed by AIIB.

The signatories to the loan agreement on December 15 were Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, and Hoe Yun Jeong, Deputy Country Director, ADB.

Passing through the populated sections of the National Capital Region (NCR), the 82-km corridor will provide fast, safe and high-capacity commuter transit services, expanding economic and employment opportunities in the region by cutting travel time from 3-4 hours to about 1 hour.

After signing the loan agreement, Mukherjee stated that the investment project will enable the RRTS to improve urban mobility, and the project’s economic impacts will also benefit women and the differently abled.

“The ADB financing is helping the construction of the corridor, which will allow people to travel by a low carbon and efficient railway system and save millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions and play a significant role in climate change mitigation,” said Jeong.