India, Japan ink pact for infrastructure funding

Japan has committed 215 billion yen (Rs10,535 crore) for six infrastructure projects in India, including phase II of the Delhi mass rapid transport system project. An agreement to this effect was signed between finance ministry officials and the Japanese ambassador to India, Hideaki Domichi. The details of the agreement were agreed between the two sides in December last year.

The fund flow would be during the next fiscal (2010-11) and continue in 2011-12, according to an official press release from New Delhi.
With this agreement, official development assistance from Japan will touch 3,116.81 billion yen (Rs1,55,840 crore), making India the highest recipient of such assistance from Japan.

The agreement allocates 30.54 billion (Rs 1,648 crore) for the second phase of DMRTS. In addition, 23.4 billion yen (Rs1,146 crore) will go to the Calcutta east-west metro project phase II, 59.85 billion yen (Rs2,932.6 crore) for the Chennai metro project phase II and 90.3 billion yen (Rs4,422 crore) for the first phase of the railways' dedicated freight corridor project.

A further 3 billion yen (Rs150 crore) would be given for the Rengali irrigation project in Orissa and 5.3 billion yen (Rs263.8 crore) for a forestry project in Sikkim.