After several years of delay leading to doubled costs, Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation(KMRC) is almost nearing completion for its East-West Project. This project runs partly under the city’s iconic Hooghly river and is expected to be completed by March 2022.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has funded 48.5% of the project with a soft loan of 41.6 billion rupees. The authorities are now awaiting a final installment of 200 million rupees over the next two years from the Indian Railway Board.
India’s oldest metro which started in 1984 with a North-South service was due for expansion in 2014, but several issues including squatters on the planned route caused major delays for the project. This delay has contributed to the total project cost rising up to 86 billion rupees for some 17 kilometres from 49 billion rupees for 14 km.
Carrying about 9,00,000 people daily, which is almost 20% of the city’s population, it will take less than a minute to cross a 520-metre underwater tunnel. Depending upon the time of the day, it can take up to 20 minutes by ferry and anywhere upward of an hour to cross the Howrah bridge currently.
With these two metro services, about 40% of the city’s total transport demand will be met, providing much-needed relief for the city’s decongestion and environmental pollution.
After an initial six-year moratorium, KMRC will repay the JICA loan over 30 years. The interest rate is between 1.2% to 1.6%. The East-West project is 74% owned by India’s Railway Ministry, while the nation’s Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs owns the rest at 26%.
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