The MahaMetro Corporation has completed the debt settlement for the second phase of its project in Nagpur. It would attract a loan of Rs 3,586 crore from the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Investment Bank.

For the second phase, there has been a change in lenders. The first phase was financed by the French AFD and KFW, a German agency. Both together had chipped 630 million euros.

French Consul General Jean Marc Sere-Charlet had said during his visit to Nagpur this month that the country would also like to fund the second phase of the Nagpur Metro project.

Now ADB would contribute USD 200 million and the EIB EUR 239 million for the project. The amount comes to over Rs 3,500 crore. The decision was made a few days ago.

MahaMetro director Brajesh Dixit said that hooking up with the lenders is an arbitrary process. “It depends on the availability of international financial institutions at that time and their ability to borrow money for projects in India at that time. The exact terms would be known when the deal is finally signed. This requires certain approvals from the state government," he said.

The total cost for the second phase is more than Rs 6,700 crore. Of this, Rs 3,100 in the form of equity has come from central and state governments. For the first phase, it was Rs 8,680 with both debt and equity at 50% each, a source said.