ADB inks loan agreement with India for Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed $500 million loan agreement with Government of India build a modern, high-speed 82-kilometer Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor.

Key Highlights:

• The first tranche loan will be supporting the construction of the first of three priority rail corridors that are planned under the NCR Regional Plan 2021 to connect Delhi to other cities in the adjoining states.
• The project will aim at providing better connectivity to allow other towns in the NCR to develop as urban economic centres surrounded by the residential areas while also easing the concentration pressure on Delhi.
• The corridor development will also have a huge demonstration effect. It will pave the way for the paradigm shift in the mobility and pattern of urban development within the region.

Significance of Delhi-Meerut RRTS:

• The 82-km Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Corridor, with a design speed of 180 km per hour and high-frequency operations of every 5 to 10 minutes, will connect Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to Modipuram in Meerut in UP.
• It is expected to reduce the journey time to about 1 hour from the present 3 to 4 hours.
• The RRTS will also have multimodal hubs to ensure the smooth interchange with the other transport modes.

ADB approved $1 billion package: Background

• The officials of NCR Transport authority had confirmed on August 18, 2020, that ADB has approved a loan of $1 billion for the construction of the high speed, Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).
• As per the rail project report, about 8 lakh passengers will be boarding the high-speed RRTS trains for the short and long-distance commuting every day.

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