Title - Bangalore Metro to raise Rs 1000 in private bonds

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is looking to raise Rs 1000 crore through private placement of bonds.

"We are planning to tap financial institutions, but would not like to do it now as the interest rates are high," the corporation's new Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said.

Kharola, a 1985-batch IAS officer, said they will wait for the interest rates to soften before initiating the fund raising exercise.

Expansion: The stretch of 10 km in the North-South corridor will be open by the end of November this year

The corporation, in which the governments of India and Karnataka hold equal partnership, has been implementing the metro project with the equity and debt raised from many financial institutions including the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The 42.3 km phase I of the project comprising two corridors of 18.1 km East-West corridor and 24.2 km North-South corridor is estimated to cost about Rs 12,000 crore.

The corporation is awaiting clearance from the Government of India for taking up the project work under the 72 km phase II at a cost of Rs 25,000 crore.

The Phase II involves extension of the lines taken up under the Phase I, and two new routes, one of which will connect Bangalore's arterial areas with the Electronic City, the addressthat houses many well-known IT companies including Infosys Limited.