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The new state government has given the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) permission to borrow Rs 60,000 crore. The Shiv Sena-BJP administration has opted to act as guarantor for the authority’s Rs 12,000 crore in Phase I borrowing in order to finance a number of infrastructure projects in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
The declaration was made at a post-cabinet briefing on Saturday by CM Eknath Shinde. SVR Srinivas, the commissioner for the metropolitan area, stated: “We will require this money to carry out current and upcoming initiatives in MMR.”
If the MMRDA cash flow is affected, loans will serve as a buffer.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) anticipates strong cash flow from a variety of sources over the following 25 years, but officials said the Rs 60,000 crore in loans it has been permitted to raise will act as a buffer in case it doesn’t receive expected funds in the following five years due to project delays and their effects on revenue inflow. The lockdown caused by Covid has delayed the commissioning of important projects, and parties’ lack of interest in the land parcels placed up for lease in BKC has hurt MMRDA’s source of income.
The authority is optimistic that it will be able to pay back debts by collecting development fees from commercial, industrial, and residential buildings in addition to selling off property. According to officials, taxes, cess, advertising, and other fees can be used to obtain the funds required for asset operations and upkeep. SBI Capital Funds has already been chosen by MMRDA to assist with the loan raising. SBI Capital Funds will impose a commission of 0.20 percent on the total amount of the loan as its fee. When the current CM oversaw the urban development ministry, the choice to name SBI Capital Funds was made at an MMRDA meeting.
The MMRDA will require Rs 5.01 lakh crore over a period of 20 years for various infrastructure projects, including the numerous Metros, dedicated bus lanes, and cycling lanes, etc. in MMR, which is spread out over 6,355 sq km, according to the updated Comprehensive Transport Study-2 (CTS-2) released in October 2021. With a population of 2.5 crore, MMR encompasses Mumbai and a small portion of the districts of Thane, Palghar, and Raigad.
According to the CTS-2, the Metro network can be finished in 337 kilometres by 2026. Nearly 180 km of this are being executed, 42.6 km are in the tendering stage, and the remaining 103 km are in the detailed project report (DPR) preparation stage. Of this, nearly 11.4 km are ready and carry 4.5 lakh commuters each workday.
Once Metro projects are finished, MMRDA anticipates that the “ultra dense crush load” congestion on local trains, which currently averages 12–18 people per square metre, can be decreased to the worldwide standard of 6 people per square metre. By 2041, the Metro network is predicted to boost public transportation travel speeds from 26 kmph in 2005 to 37 kmph.
Furthermore, it is anticipated that CO2 emissions will be reduced by 1 million tonnes annually and particulate matter by 1,000 tonnes annually thanks to the expansion of the Metro network, which will make mass public transportation accessible to residents of MMR within a 500- to 800-meter radius. The strategy intends to increase the percentage of people using public transportation to 75.4% from 65.3% in 2017
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