Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), the French development agency of the Government of France, has approved a loan of €110 million for the phase-1 of the Bangalore Metro Rail project.

This is a sovereign loan granted by the Government of France to the Government of India. The Government of India negotiated the loan for the Bangalore Metro Rail Project. This is AFD’s largest loan so far for transport infrastructure in South Asia.

According to a Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) release, the loan tenure is 20 years with a moratorium period of 5 years and the interest rate is Euribor +150 basis point.

Agreement to this effect was signed in New Delhi by Rajesh Khullar, Joint Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs and Dov Zerah, CEO, AFD. BMRCL was represented by N. Sivasailam, managing director, and U.A. Vasanth Rao, general manager-finance.

anil.u@thehindu.co.in

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