Press Release

New Delhi, March 27, 2020: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement with the Government of India to provide an Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan of 13,967 million Japanese Yen (approximately INR 880 Crore) for building a metro rail system in Ahmedabad city, as a part of the "Ahmedabad Metro Project".

The objective of the Project is to cope with increasing traffic in Ahmedabad by developing the mass rapid transportation system. The Project will promote regional economic development and improve urban environment by mitigating traffic congestion and reducing resultant air pollution.

The ODA loan agreement was signed between Dr. C.S. Mohapatra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Mr. Katsuo Matsumoto, Chief Representative, JICA India.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Katsuo Matsumoto, Chief Representative, JICA India said, "The traffic volume in Ahmedabad has kept increasing, resulting in severe congestion. Ahmedabad is seventh-largest metropolitan area in India. The Ahmedabad metro will play a critical role to address the issues related to growing traffic needs such as traffic congestion, vehicular pollution and the risk of traffic accidents, by promoting the modal shift from road traffic to public transportation."

This project will see the setting up of metro rail network of around 39 km from Motera Stadium to APMC (North-South Corridor) and Thaltej to Vastral Gam (East-West Corridor). These stretches cover the central business district, academic area, residential colonies and the institutional area of Ahmedabad Metropolitan Area. The Ahmedabad Metro Project will use Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) sub-system. There will be an Automatic Fare Collection System with Smart Cards for multiple journeys, and computerized Contactless Smart Tokens for single journeys. The project started in 2016 and currently total progress (physical) is 40.1%.

The Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation Limited is the Executing Agency of the Project.

JICA extended an ODA loan of 82.434 million Japanese Yen (approximately INR 4,300 crore) for the Ahmedabad Metro Project under the 1st tranche which was signed in March 2016. With the signing of this ODA loan agreement, the cumulative loan amount for Ahmedabad Metro Project currently amounts to 96,401 million Japanese Yen (approximately INR 5,200 crore), and the cumulative loan amount provided by JICA for metro projects in India (including Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad Metro's) exceeds 1.3 trillion Japanese Yen (approximately INR 87,000 crore).

Mr. Matsumoto, Chief Representative, JICA India, signing the loan the agreements

Total 9 loan agreements got signed

About JICA

Established, by a specific law, as an independent administrative institution under the Government of Japan, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) aims to contribute to the promotion of international cooperation, as a sole Japanese governmental agency in charge of ODA implementation. JICA is the world's largest bilateral donor agency. JICA works as a bridge between Japan and emerging countries, and provides assistance in forms of loan, grant and technical cooperation so that the emerging countries can strengthen their capabilities.

For further information, please contact:

JICA India Office
Shushaku Takada / Vini Sharma
+91 11 49097000
Takada.Shusaku@jica.go.jp
Sharmavini.id@jica.go.jp

MSL India
Nishtha Grover/Saloni Sachdeva
(+91) 9818021223/ 9999427000
nishtha.grover@mslgroup.com
Saloni.sachdeva@mslgroup.com