Nagpur: In a first of sorts, South Korea has shown interest in investing in Samruddhi Corridor, some big-ticket infrastructure projects in India and the Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway – a dream project of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis – is on top of the list.
Maharashtra has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Korean Land and Housing Corporation, an undertaking of the South Korean government that specialises in land development, town planning and creation of housing stock.
The CM will be visiting South Korea and Singapore from September 25. The government will be seeking a loan from a South Korean bank, Korea Land and Housing Corporation, for the Samruddhi Corridor. A special purpose vehicle will be created for the project,” said an official from the CMO.
According to sources, only seven to eight banks came forward to extend loans for this project during a meeting on Wednesday attended by the CM. The banks were ready to disburse a `7000 crore loan, but it was not sufficient. “Banks are not ready to lend that kind of money. So, the government presented a revenue model in the meeting,” the official added. After the local banks’ inability to disburse loan, it was decided to check out options from the South Korean bank.
The Korean government had initially expressed interest in building the expressway, but we do projects through competitive bidding. Then they were keen to build the nodes. We have prepared detailed notes and presentations in Korean, and we are likely to sign a deal that would bring investment for the expressway project as well as others,” a Maharashtra official said.
KLHC will assist the government to build 24 townships created along the proposed expressway, and may also take up the development of a couple of nodes by themselves.The project will cost Rs 12,000 crore.
Along with the Samruddhi Corridor, the government is also going to seek South Korea’s financial assistance to redevelop the Mhada government colony in Bandra and a newly proposed township in suburban Kalyan-Dombivali area, the official added. The government intends to develop the Nagpur and Pune airports and will be signing MoUs with Singapore’s Changi airport, one of the biggest in the world.
