Delhi - Meerut Rapid Transit Project Gets $500 Million Funding From ADB

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government of India have signed a $500 million loan, the first tranche of a total $1 billion facility, to build a modern, high-speed 82-kilometre Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor that will improve regional connectivity and mobility in India's national capital region (NCR). The first tranche of loan will support construction of the first of three priority rail corridors planned under the NCR Regional Plan 2021 to connect Delhi with other cities in adjoining states. The project will provide connectivity to allow other towns in the NCR to develop as urban economic centres surrounded by residential areas while easing the concentration pressure on Delhi. The project is expected to have a transformational impact on the development trajectory of the NCR by introducing high-level technologies for RRTS, signalling, and station designs. The project will also support transit-oriented development (TOD) with systematic urban and land use planning around the RRTS corridor while promoting value capture financing (VCF) to generate additional municipal revenues.