Government of India and JICA signed Loan Agreement for Cleaning of Mula-Mutha River in Pune

The Government signed a loan agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for pollution abatement of River Mula-Mutha in Pune under National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) in the presence of Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar, here today. The Government of Japan has committed to provide a soft loan of 19.064 billion Yen (about Rs. 1000 crore) to Government of India for the project at an interest rate of 0.30% per annum. Speaking soon after the agreement was signed, Shri Javadekar termed it a ‘historic agreement’. The Minister also said that it marked the beginning of a new chapter of cooperation with Japan.

The loan assistance for the project has been approved by the Union Finance Ministry at an estimated cost of Rs. 990.26 crore. The project cost will be shared between Government of India and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the implementing agency for the project, in the ratio of 85:15 respectively. The share of Central Government in project will be Rs. 841.72 crore and share of PMC would be Rs. 148.54 crore. The loan has to be repaid by Government of India in a period of 40 years, including a 10-year grace period. The project is scheduled to be completed by January, 2022.

The major components proposed under the project include construction of 11 new Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), which will result in a creation of an additional treatment capacity of 396 mld over the existing treatment capacity of 477 mld, laying of 113.6 kms of sewer lines and renovation/rehabilitation of 4 existing intermediate pumping stations. Once the project is completed, the total STP capacity available in Pune will be 873 mld, which will be sufficient to cater to sewage generation for the year 2027. The new STPs would be designed for effluent quality of BOD