Gurgaon: Germany’s KfW Development Bank has replaced European Investment Bank (EIB) as the proposed international lender for a major portion of the Gurgaon Metro project. A delegation from the bank visited the city this week to assess the project’s readiness before taking the funding process forward.The visit was part of KfW’s appraisal process to evaluate whether the project meets the technical, financial, environmental and social standards required for extending financial assistance. The delegation inspected the proposed metro alignment, station locations, depot site in Sector 33, casting yard, labour camps, afforestation sites along the KMP corridor and Basai pond. It also travelled on the Rapid Metro to assess commuter travel patterns and interchange with the Delhi Metro’s Yellow Line.Detailed discussions were held with GMRL’s director (finance) Rajat Verma, director (projects and planning) SR Sangwa, director (rolling stock and electricals) Rajesh Chaturvedi and other officials on planning, design, procurement strategy and overall project preparedness. The German bank also shared international best practices in multimodal integration and last-mile connectivity. The KfW delegation separately met GMDA Additional CEO and GMCBL CEO Vishwajeet Chaudhary, focusing on integrated planning and multimodal connectivity.“KfW’s visit is an important milestone in the funding process. Based on its assessment, it will prepare an appraisal report, after which the proposal will move to the department of economic affairs for financial negotiations, including the loan terms and interest rate,” a GMRL official said.KfW has stepped in after the EIB-backed funding proposal did not materialise. The original financial plan had envisaged raising over Rs 2,688 crore as a soft loan — about Rs 1,075 crore from World Bank and around Rs 1,613 crore from EIB. Following delays in securing EIB confirmation, GMRL began looking for an alternative lender. In May, the Haryana cabinet approved financing the soft loan component through World Bank and cleared the state’s share of Rs 2,415 crore after the project’s revised cost was approved. The exact KfW loan amount will be finalised after appraisal and negotiations.The proposed metro network will span 30.85km from Millennium City Centre to Cyber City, comprising a 27.2km main corridor and two spur lines — 1.85km from Basai to Sector 101 and 1.8km from Sector 5 to the railway station — with 28 stations in all.On the construction front, civil work on phase 1 between Millennium City Centre and Sector 9 is progressing. Land clearances are being pursued with concerned authorities for phase 1, the depot tender has been floated, and bids for phase 2 between Sector 9 and Cyber City will be invited soon.
