The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : JBIC approves loan for ORR Phase II B

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Thursday, Feb 21, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

JBIC approves loan for ORR Phase II B

M.L.Melly Maitreyi

Agreement to be signed between JBIC, government officials at New Delhi on March 10

HYDERABAD: With the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) giving its official consent for sanction of Rs. 3,000 crore for the Phase II B of Outer Ring Road project, funds for the execution of the final phase are in place.

The loan agreement will be officially concluded between officials of JBIC and the government at New Delhi on March 10 and a loan account will be opened in the Reserve Bank of India.

2nd biggest loan

Interestingly this is the second biggest loan sanction for a State infrastructure project from Japanese Bank for International Cooperation in the country. Earlier it sanctioned a loan of Rs. 4,200 crore for the Delhi Metro Rail Project. The ORR project officials are also happy that the loan has been processed expeditiously as the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation team that visited the city and reviewed the ongoing work was impressed with the huge potential of the project.

Faster process

Compared to the time taken to finalise the JBIC loan of Rs. 300 crore for the Hussainsagar improvement project, this worked out faster as the Detailed Project Reports were ready and Japanese Bank for International Cooperation team was satisfied with the DPRs prepared by international consultants, said ORR Project Director Piyush Kumar.

The tenders for the 71.5 km final phase will be invited in March and expected to be finalised in June for the work to commence, he said.

The work on the Rs. 515 crore 24 km first phase from Gachibowli and Shamshabad is under execution and four lane connectivity to Shamshabad Airport will be ready by mid April, a month after Airport inauguration.

The work on the 61.58 km Phase II A, from Shamshabad to Pedda Amberpet and Narsingi to Patancheru, split into five packages and awarded to contractors through international bidding, started in December 2007.

The Phase II A would cost Rs. 1,861 crore on the basis of annuity model. The Japanese Bank for International Cooperation-aided Phase II B is from Patancheru to Shamirpet.

For the Phase II A, Right of Way has been given and most of the 2,400 acres required land was acquired except in stretches near Poppalguda and Mankhal pending disposal of court cases.

The ongoing land acquisition for 2,700 acres for Phase II B would be completed by July.

Project deadline

The work on the first phase commenced in 2005 and entire 162 km ORR is expected to be ready by 2010-end, Mr. Piyush Kumar said. “Even by international standards, a five-year time frame for a major infrastructure project is remarkable. Despite initial setbacks and delays, the project work is on track as public realised the need for ORR to ease congestion and spur the economy,” he said.

The world class project designed to meet requirements for next 50 years costs Rs. 6,200 crore of which Rs.1, 200 is for land acquisition.

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