• EUR 500m for a new Rapid Transit line
• 18 stations
• 96 metro carriages
• Benefiting more than 220 000 passengers every day

India's rapidly growing population along with increased economic development have led to a strain on the transport system and serious environmental challenges. The new “Reach 6” metro line in Bangalore will benefit more than 220 000 passengers every day by 2023, rising to as many as 550 000 passengers by 2041, saving beneficiaries about half an hour each day on average. Some journeys will be cut from 2 hours to as little as 15 minutes. Moreover, the expected shift of passengers from road to rail should achieve a reduction in vehicle operating costs, road accident costs, and local air and noise pollution.

With financing of EUR 500m, this is the Bank’s largest ever support for sustainable transport outside Europe. By overcoming bottlenecks in the transport system, it will improve efficiency and help to promote sustainable growth and poverty reduction. The direct effect of the construction work on employment is impressive, creating 55 000 person-years of employment, while 800 people will be employed full-time on the finished line.

“Daily travel for hundreds of thousands of people on the Namma Metro will be transformed by expanding urban transport in Bangalore,” said Andrew McDowell, EIB Vice-President responsible for South Asia. “The impressive Reach 6 project shows how a world city is providing 21st century sustainable transport for its citizens.”

The formal exchange of contracts took place at the 14th India–European Union summit. It is the EIB’s second sovereign loan to the Republic of India and also the first infrastructure project to be jointly financed by the EIB and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. With a 20-year maturity, the EIB loan has more than double the duration that is available to the Indian authorities in the market, and is critical to the project being able to go ahead.