The European Investment Bank (EIB) on Monday announced that it will invest €650 million in the construction of Kanpur’s metro line. The second biggest EIB operation outside the EU to date will finance the construction of a 32.4-km urban rail line, with 18 elevated and 12 underground stations, stated EIB in a release.
This is the second metro rail project supported by EIB in UP, following the €450 million investment in the Lucknow metro. This is the fifth EIB investment in green infrastructure and connectivity in India and the second in Uttar Pradesh. The EU bank has invested in metro rail systems in Bhopal, Pune, Bengaluru and Lucknow. With the Kanpur investment, the total amount of the EIB’s approved funding for metro rail systems in India has reached €2.65 billion, more than half of the entire EIB investment portfolio in India.
This investment comes within days of ADB announcing its commitment in rail-based system in India. On August 18, Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $1 billion loan to support construction of a rail-based transit system -- the speed Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit system in India.
Andrew McDowell, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, said: “Kanpur is the fifth metro rail project to receive EIB funds in India and the biggest investment made by the Bank outside the EU.” Once completed, Kanpur metro rail will create 1,100 new jobs and enable around 116 million more affordable commutes each year, said the EIB release.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.