Rs. 470-cr coopbank loan to Kochi Metro.

The Ernakulam District Cooperative Bank will advance Rs. 470 crore as loan to Kochi Metro Rail Ltd., the largest ever single loan given by a cooperative bank in the State.

The 12-year term loan will carry a floating interest rate of 9.95 per cent, which will be linked to State Bank of India’s base rate of interest.

The loan amount will mainly be used for land acquisition for Kochi Metro, whose first phase is expected to go operational late next year. It will be repaid by the State government from its annual budget. KMRL had to take this supplementary loan as the State government was unable to release its share of funding for the project.

KMRL board of directors, at its meeting held in New Delhi on Tuesday, approved the loan proposal.

The meeting, presided over by Union Urban Development Secretary Shankar Aggarwal, who is also Chairman of KMRL, also okayed a supplementary policy for providing rehabilitation and resettlement benefits to persons whose land would be acquired. KMRL will give jobs, on a preferential basis, to one person from each family whose land is acquired.


HBL