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Innovative Financing of Metro Rail Projects

This document discusses innovative financing methods for mass rapid transit system projects in India. It proposes leveraging increased land values and development potential along transit corridors to help fund project costs through taxes, levies and land value capture. State governments are advised to implement these measures to access central government assistance for metro rail projects.

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Nivesh Chaudhary
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
161 views8 pages

Innovative Financing of Metro Rail Projects

This document discusses innovative financing methods for mass rapid transit system projects in India. It proposes leveraging increased land values and development potential along transit corridors to help fund project costs through taxes, levies and land value capture. State governments are advised to implement these measures to access central government assistance for metro rail projects.

Uploaded by

Nivesh Chaudhary
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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hkt

To
i )
ii)
No. K-1 40' l 1 1812012-M RTS (Coord)
Gover nment of I ndi a
Mi ni stry of Urban Devel oPment
http ://www. u rb a n i n d i a. n i c. i n
Ni r man Bhawan, New Del hi - 110108.
Dated the 16th APri l , 2012.
Al l Chi ef Secretari es
Al l MDs of Metro Rai l Corporati ons
Subj ect: Innovati ve fi nanci ng of Metro Rai l Proj ects.
Si r ,
As you are aware MRTS proj ects (rai l based as wel l as bus based) are
hi ghl y capi t al i nt ensi ve. Yet t hey ought t o be t aken up i n al most al l mi l l i on pl us
ci ti es on an emergent basi s not onl y to catch up wi th the backl og of urban
transi t i nfrastructure, but al so to pl an for the future. Wi thout these
proj ects,
movements i n the ci ti es have become a huge chal l enge. Poor mobi l i ty can
become a maj or dampener to the economi c
growth. The growth of Indi a has to
happen through urbani zati on and urbani zati on i s to be dri ven by effi ci ent,
effecti ve, affordabl e, qui ck, comfortabl e, rel i abl e and sustai nabl e transportati on,
wi th the MRTS proj ects provi di ng the mai n backbone.
Z. The trend i n the past has been to rel y mai nl y on the budgetary support of
Central Government and State Government as wel l as l oans from mul ti l ateral /
fi nanci al i nsti tuti ons. However, the resources through budget are hi ghl y l i mi ted
and cannot be concentrated i n few ci ti es al one. As such, there i s an urgent need
to resort to i nnovati ve fi nanci ng mechani sm for al l MRTS proj ects. In fact, i t
shoul d be possi bl e to fi nance maj or cost of the proj ect through expl oi tati on of
ci ty' s l and resources. In thi s regard, a concept Note was ci rcul ated vi de thi s
Ministry' s letter of even number dated 20th Janu ary, 2012 to all the States, Metro
Rai l Corporati ons, CEOs of the devel opment authori ti es etc. for offeri ng thei r
comments. Thi s concept
paper was al so di scussed i n three Press Conferences
and hosted on the Mi ni stry' s websi te. Maj ori ty of the response recei ved by the
Mi ni stry support the measures suggested for i nnovati ve fi nanci ng. Based on the
i nputs i ecei ved from vari ous
quarters, the note has been modi fi ed and a copy of
the same i s encl osed as Annexure-l '
Cont . . . . . . . 21-
hkt
: : 2 : :
3' State Governments,
Metro Rai l Compani es and Local Bodi es are advi sed
for urgentl y i mpl ementi ng
the measures suggested i n the attached note. l t may
be noted that i mpl ementati on
of thi s ci rcul ar woul d be one of the essenti al pre-
requi sj tes
for any Central Fi nanci al Assi stance ei ther i n the form of equi ty or
grant
for MRTS proj ect (rai l /bus
based).
4' . The progress
of i mpl ementati on
may pl ease
be advi sed to thi s Mi ni stry on
pri ori ty
basi s.
Yours fai thful l y,
Encl : As above.
\l ' i r*"{
' ' s
I L [ ' i i \
\ ' "'
( S. K. Lohi a)
i I
OSD( UT) & E. O. Joi nt Secr et ar y
Tel:23061114
FAX: 23061102
E m ai I : s k. I o h i a@n i c. i n
[email protected]
Copy t o:
Al l Pri nci pal
Secretari es(Urban
Devel opment)/Pri nci pal
Secretari es
(Fi nance)/Pri nci pal
Secretari es(Transporl )/Pri nci pal
Secretari es(pl anni ng),
Muni ci pal Commi ssi oner s of al l mi l l i on pl us
ci t i es.
Copy al so t o:
1. Secretary (Expendi ture),
Mi ni stry of Fi nance, North Bl ock, New Del hi .
2. secr et ar y, Pl anni ng commi ssi on,
yoj ana
Bhawan, New Del hi .
Copy, for ki nd i nformati on, to:
1. PS t o UDM.
2. PS t o MoS ( UD) .
3. Sr. PPS to Secretary (UD).
4. AS/Al l JSs/EA i n MoUD.
I
, v
' ' ;
t
t' ' \
\ ' -'
( S. K. Lohi a)
'
'
OSD( UT) & E. O. Joi nt Secr et ar y
Annexur e t o t he l et t er No. K- 14011l B/ 2012- MRTS ( Coor d)
dat ed 16. 4. 2012
Subj ect: l nnovati ve Fi nanci ng of Mass Rapi d Transi t System (MRTS) Proj ects
-
(Both Rai l as wel l as Road Based).
Mass rapi d transi t
;;t
proj ects are capi tal i ntensi ve and requi re tong tenure
l endi ng at a very reasonabl e rate i n order to be sustai nabl e. The Metro Rai l Proj ects
speci al l y are hi ghl y capi tal i ntensi ve. Furthermore, bei ng soci al sector proj ects, i t i s not
possi bl e
to i ncrease the fares beyond a poi nt and accordi ngl y fare box revenue al one
cannot make these proj ects fi nanci al l y vi abl e. However, i n spi te of al l these chal l enges,
these proj ects have to be taken up on hi gh demand corri dors i n vari ous ci ti es wi th a
popul at i on of one mi l l i on pl us, wi t h r ai l based MRTS pr oj ect s i n t hr ee mi l l i on pl us i n t he
12th Fi ve Year Pl an i tsel f as recommended i n the worki ng Group Report on Urban
Transport for 12th Fi ve Year Pl an. Rai l Based MRTS proj ects are al so to be pl anned for
t wo mi l l i on pl us ci t i es wher ever vi abl e.
2. A st udy of gl obal exper i ence i n Ur ban Rai l Tr ansi t pr ovi si oni ng shows t hat Publ i c
Pri vate Paftnershi ps (PPP) i n Metro Rai l Proj ects has not been very successful . As
brought out i n the Report of the Worki ng Group on Urban Transporl for the 12th Fi ve Year
Pl an, the anal ysi s of Metro Rai l systems i n 132 ci ti es i n the worl d provi des a
comprehensi ve understandi ng of the ownershi p structure and use of PPP i n Metro Rai l
devel opment . l n 113 ci t i es havi ng Met r o Rai l s, 88% have been devel oped and ar e bei ng
operated i n Publ i c Sector mode whereas i n onl y 12% ci ti es some form of Publ i c Pri vate
Partnershi p exi sts. In fact outsi de Indi a, no ci ty anywhere i n the worl d (except the fai l ed
experi ment of STAR and PUTRA metro rai l i n Kaul al ampur i n Mal aysi a) has attempted
provi si oni ng of Metro rai l i n ful l ci ty on PPP i n l ast few decades. Even the new Metro
Rai l proj ects, whi ch are bei ng devel oped, are l argel y bei ng taken up on publ i c sector
mode rather than PPP. l t may be noted that PPP has been an i mportant fi nanci ng
mechani sm of the other modes of transport i n Indi a and el se where. Even i n road based
MRTS proj ects l i ke Bus Rapi d Transi t System, the i nfrastructure has been devel oped i n
the publ i c sector gl obal l y whereas the bus operati ons and mai ntenance as wel l as fare
col l ect i on has been done on PPP.
3. Fi nanci ng of such hi ghl y capi tal i ntensi ve proj ects onl y through Gross Budgetary
support, so that they can be taken up on publ i c sector mode rather than PPP, i s not
possi bl e consi deri ng the fi nanci al constrai nts and other pressi ng demands of both Govt.
of Indi a and State Govt. concerned. As such, the onl y way out i s to resort to i nnovati ve
fi nanci ng mechani sm usi ng l and as a resource as wel l as other dedi cated l evi es/taxes as
envi saged i n the Nati onal Urban Transport Pol i cy, 2006 and create a dedi cated Urban
transport fund at State l evel and Central Govt. l evel from such sources. The Nati onal
Urban Transporl Pol i cy furl her menti ons that the support from Govt of l ndi a woul d be
conti ngent upon the States to tap these i nnovati ve fi nanci ng mechani sms"
4. MRTS proj ects whether Rai l based or Bus based, are hi gh capaci ty mass rapi d transi t
systems and are amenabl e to
"Transi t
Ori ented Devel opment" as wel l as densi fi cati on
al ong the MRTS corri dor through addi ti onal FAR. Furthermore i t i s al so i mportant to have
as many peopl e, who are potenti al users of MRTS, to l i ve wi thi n wal ki ng di stance of
MRTS stati ons so as not onl y to reduce the overal l travel demand but al so to i mprove the
sustai nabi l i ty of MRTS proj ect. l nevi tabl y, there i s a huge spurt i n the pri ces of property
(sal e as wel l as rental ) especi al l y al ong the MRTS corri dor i n the catchment area (whi ch
may be def i ned as maxi mum 10 mi n wal ki ng di st ance f r om t he st at i on) . Pr esent l y, al l
these benefi ts go pri mari l y to the pri vate parti es even though the same i s caused onl y on
account of Government i nvestment. As such, there i s a strong case for the Government
to en-cash the i ncreased
property val ue (sal e/rental ) i n the catchment area of MRTS
corri dor as wel l as the i ncreased FAR al ong the MRTS corri dor whi ch can be used to not
onl y part fund the proj ect cost but al so for provi di ng i nterest subsi dy to make avai l abl e
the l oans, to the SPV i mpl ementi ng the proj ect, on a very concessi onal rate so as to
mai ntai n i ts debt servi ce coverage rati o (DSCR) of more than 1.15 each year. l n fact the
surpl us, i f any from the dedi cated urban transport fund, can be l everaged further for
rai si ng funds from the domesti c market for taki ng up other urban transport
proj ects.
5. Govt of l ndi a has been advocati ng these i deas si nce l ong. However i t the Government
of Karnataka whi ch has for the fi rst ti me i n the country, whi l e sancti oni ng Phase-l l of
Bangal ore Metro (72.Og5 kms at a total compl eti on cost of Rs.26,405crore),
has deci ded
the fol l owi ng i nnovati ve fi nanci ng methods for resource mobi l i sati on through cess/TDR-
"
a) Levy of Cess and Surcharge under Secti on 18A of the Karnataka Town and Country
Pl anni ng Act at 5o/o of the market val ue of l and orl and bui l di ng i n future Devel opments,
to be credi ted to Metro Infrastructure Fund and to be shared by BMRCL, BWSSB and
BDA at 650
,20oh
and 15% respecti vel y.
b) i ) To extend the benefi t of 4 FAR for al l properti es l yi ng wi thi n a di stance of 500 mtrs.
from the Metro al i gnment.
i i ) To l evy a cess of 10% i n respect of resi denti al bui l di ngs and 20% i n respect of
commer ci al bui l di ngs on t he addi t i onal FAR gr ant ed, i n r espect of Phase- 1 and Phase- 2
of t he Met r o Rai l Pr oj ect and shar e t he same among BMRCL, BBMP, BWSSB and BDA
in the ratio of 600/0, 20o/o, 10% and 10% respectively.
c) i ) To al l ow BMRCL to i ssue TDRs i n l i eu of compensati on for acqui si ti on of l and for
Metro Rai l Proj ect.
i i ) To revi ew the current TDR Scheme so as to make i t bri nq i n addi ti onal revenue and
at the same ti me, attracti ve for the TDR Acqui rer."
The yi el d through addi ti onal FAR of 4 and l evy of cess of 10oh i n resi denti al
bui l di ngs and 20o/o i n respect of commerci al bui l di ngs on the addi ti onal FAR granted i s
esti mated to be Rs.432 crore i n fi ve years. Cess of 5% of the market val ue of l and orl and
bui l di ngs i n future devel opments i s expected to yi el d Rs.1250 crore i n fi ve years
@
Rs. 250 cr or e per annum.
6. Even whi l e sanct i oni ng a Phase- l l l of Del hi Met r o, t he Gover nment of I ndi a has
deci ded as fol l ows:
"
The GNCTD woul d set up a dedi cated Urban Transport Fund (UTF) at State l evel i n
consul tati on wi th Mi ni stry of Urban Devel opment, Government of l ndi a through l evy of
dedi cated taxes/l evi es etc., capturi ng the i ncreased l and and property val ue from sal e
proceeds/rental (as wel l as i ncreased FAR) al l al ong the metro corri dors i n Del hi as
envi saged i n Nati onal Urban Transport Pol i cy, 2006 to create pool of resources for
repl acement of assets, i nterest subsi dy and provi di ng operati onal subsi di es, i f any, not
onl y for thi s proj ect but other Urban Transport proj ects as wel l . 75oh of the amount
real i zed from the i ncreased l and and properl y val ue capture from sal e/rental proceeds
woul d be credi ted to Dedi cated Urban Transport Fund at Central Government l evel ".
7. However for achi evi ng the hi gher FAR i t woul d be desi rabl e to al l ow for amal gamati on
of pl ots as wel l through appropri ate amendments i n the bye l aws. Though amal gamati on
i s desi rabl e but i t need not be a pre-requi si te. Densi fi cati on shoul d be al l owed i n al l pl ot
si zes subj ect to the new devel opment/redevel opment proj ect compl yi ng to the Stati on
Area Devel opment Pl an for the i nfl uence zone. In order that the densi fi cati on happens
qui ckl y and the i ntended revenue starts fl owi ng to dedi cated urban transport fund, i t wi l l
al so be i mportant to provi de for some i ncenti ves for earl y uti l i zati on of the hi gher FAR say
wi thi n three to four years. l t shoul d al so be kept i n mi nd that hi gher FAR woul d not
automati cal l y resul t i n densi fi cati on as we can have penthouses uti l i zi ng the hi gher FAR
thereby defeati ng the very purpose of densi fi cati on. As such i t i s i mportant to coupl e the
FAR threshol d wi th a mi ni mum densi ty requi rement. Furthermore, i t i s al so desi rabl e not
to al l ow underuti l i zati on of FAR bel ow a certai n threshol d (commensurate to the capaci ty
of MRTS system) wi thi n ToD zones for any neMredevel opment proj ects.
8. I ncl usi onar y housi ng pol i ci es wi t hi n hi gher FAR st at i on ar eas, measur es t o
encour age a bal anced mi x of
j obs
and housi ng al ong MRTS cor r i dor s and caps on
parki ng suppl y shoul d be adopted to support rapi d densi fi cati on, housi ng affordabi l i ty and
i mprove the effi ci ency and equi ty of the resul ti ng devel opments.
9. In addi ti on to what has been captured by Government of Karnataka, there i s al so room
for encashi ng the i ncreased market val ue of l and and bui l di ngs at the ti me of sal e/rental .
Thi s can be done by l evyi ng a sui t abl e cess on t he sal e of l and or bui l di ng i n t he
i nfl uence zone of MRTS and by addi ti onal property tax on the exi sti ng bui l di ngs (whether
sel f occupi ed or rented but wi th di fferenti al treatment for both). The yi el d from thi s shoul d
al so fl ow i nto a Dedi cated Urban Transport Fund.
10. There i s al so a case for enhancement of property tax i n the i nfl uence zone of MRTS
proj ects (where hi gher FAR has been al l owed) as al l those l i vi ng i n the i nfl uence zone
are benefi ted by the MRTS proj ect. Whi chever ci ty are aspi ri ng for MRTS system shoul d
al so resort to 100% property tax col l ecti on before the proposed compl eti on date of the
proj ect. As such i n addi ti on achi evi ng 10Oo/o property tax col l ecti on woul d al so be made
one of the condi ti ons of sancti on. The funds of addi ti onal revenue on account of both can
al so be pool ed i nto the Dedi cated Urban Transport Fund.
11. In addi ti on to the above, the State Governments may consi der any other sources
of dedi cated l evi es l i ke vacant l and charges, betterment l evy, speci al devel opment
charges, cess on fuel , parki ng taxes, congesti on charges, aucti on based motor vehi cl e
regi strati on quota systems, etc. to augment the resources for taki ng up the MRTS
proj ects. A vacant l and tax, not onl y on l and but al so on unuti l i zed FSl , i s to ensure ti me
bound densi fi cati on al ong wi th MRTS corri dor where the hi gher FAR i s permi tted. Vacant
l and tax must be very stri ctl y l evi ed and shoul d be
qui te steep. l t i s absol utel y
i nappropri ate to al l ow l and banki ng i n TOD zones. Vacant l and tax or Under-uti l i zati on of
FAR Tax shoul d al so appl y as a penal ty to al l devel opers as wel l as Govt. bodi es, to
prevent i neffi ci ent use of val uabl e l and. Al l the addi ti onal revenue comi ng out of the l and
moneti zati on as menti oned above can al so fl ow i nto a Dedi cated Urban Transport Fund.
12. As the revenue i n thi s Dedi cated Urban Transporl Fund woul d be fl owi ng i n from
the Urban Local bodi es as wel l as the State Governments, i t woul d be desi rabl e to have
fool proof ESCROW mechani sm to use these funds onl y for the i ntended
purposes. Thi s
may be achi eved by maki ng the above fund to be operated as a trust fund under a wel l -
structured trust deed dul y outl i ni ng i n the order of pri ori ty, the
purposes for thi s fund can
be used. A publ i c sector bank may be sel ected for managi ng the Trust Fund. Thi s
ESCROW mechani sm of generati ng addi ti onal revenue from l and moneti zati on and
addi ti onal
property tax etc. so as to not onl y
part fund the
proj ect but al so provi de i nterest
subventi on and/or credi t enhancement, can open up a huge pool of l ong term funds wi th
provi dent
Fund and i nsurance sector for i nvesti ng i n MRTS
proj ects, mul ti modal
integration
projects, related infrastructure and services, etc. This would greatly reduce
the over dependence on mul ti l ateral fundi ng for taki ng up MRTS
proj ects as i s the case
today. Thi s wi l l enabl e
parti ci pati on of Urban Local Bodi es i n devel opment of MRTS
systems for the ci ty and al so devel opment of i nfrastructure etc for i ntermodal i ntegrati on
and effecti ve transport system moni tori ng and management.
13. In addi ti on to the above, reference i s al so i nvi ted to thi s Mi ni stry' s D.O. l etter No.K-
1401114812008-UT dated 12th January, 2009 vi de whi ch suggested possi bl e sources of
Dedi cated Urban Transport Fund at State/ci ty l evel were advi sed. At the State l evel ,
addi ti onal sal es tax on petrol , addi ti onal regi strati on fee on four-wheel ers and two-
wheel er s, hi gh r egi st r at i on f ee f or per sonal vehi cl es r unni ng on di esel , annual r enewal
fee on dri vi ng l i cense and vehi cl e regi strati on, congesti on tax, green tax etc. may be used
to draw sources for the Dedi cated Urban Transport Fund at the State l evel . The i nel asti c
demand of petrol wi th respect to pri ce i n a short run woul d ensure suffi ci ent accrual s to
t he f undi ng and whi ch woul d, i n t he l ong r un, i ncent i vi se such peopl e t o shi f t t o t he publ i c
transport system. The funds so generated by the States can be used for new proj ects i n
urban transport, compensate towards exempti on of tax on urban buses
,
mass transi t
systems and repl acement of assets of publ i c transport compani es and, towards meeti ng
the cost of vari ous other concessi ons extended to encourage
publ i c transport by the
State Government.
14. The ci ti es, i n addi ti on to the above sources, can al so
generate funds out of
rati onal i zati on of parki ng-fee, adverti sement revenue on transi t corri dors, empl oyment tax
(as done i n France) etc. Thi s fund at the ci ty l evel can be used for establ i shi ng a fare
conti ngency fund to meet the di fference between the
' publ i c
fare' (pai d by the commuters)
and the' techni cal fare' (payabl e to the pri vate operators) to sustai n the operati ons and; to
provi de ULBs' share for fundi ng the urban transport
proj ects.

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