Rs 60,000-cr mega projects in pipeline: MMRDA plans to raise funds through foreign bonds : The Indian Express

Foreign bonds have some advantages over project-specific financing that lengthen execution period: U P S Madan 

With multi-crore infrastructure projects lined up for execution in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the city’s development authority is considering raising finances through foreign bonds as an alternative to project-specific loans, which often lengthen the execution period. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has projects with a cumulative price tag of nearly Rs 60,000 crore in the pipeline for implementation. These include a 118-km Metro network in Mumbai, a 22-km link from Sewri to Nhava Sheva across the Mumbai harbour and a 126-km multi-modal corridor from Virar to Alibaug. MMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner U P S Madan said, “Currently, we have sufficient resources, but going forward, we are going to implement mega projects so we will need funds. One alternative is getting project-specific loans, but we are considering raising funds through foreign bonds. Foreign bonds have some advantages as compared with project-specific financing. We will first have to get a credit rating done for MMRDA to get started.”