New Delhi, March 24 The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed four loan projects on Tuesday, including a project to promote sustainable horticulture in Punjab and the Mumbai Metro Line, totaling ₹16,420 crore.
The loan agreement was signed with the Government of India to provide Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans for four key projects, JICA said in a statement.
The loan agreement was signed in New Delhi between Alok Tiwari, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and Takeuchi Takuro, Chief Representative of JICA India Office.
The four projects include a project to strengthen tertiary healthcare delivery, the medical education system, and the nursing education system in Maharashtra (¥62,294 million Japanese Yen); a project to promote sustainable horticulture in Punjab (¥18,684 million Japanese Yen), the Bengaluru Metro Rail Project (Phase 3) (I) (¥102,480 million), and the Mumbai Metro Line 11 Project (I) (¥92,400 million Japanese Yen).
The projects aim to promote sustainable and inclusive development across key sectors in India, including agriculture, urban mobility, and healthcare, it said.
In Punjab, the initiative focuses on building a climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable horticulture value chain by promoting high-value crops, strengthening infrastructure, and enabling Indo-Japan collaboration through innovation, research, and digital platforms to enhance market access, it said.
In the healthcare sector, the Maharashtra project seeks to improve access to quality medical care by expanding tertiary care facilities, medical colleges, and nursing schools, while also strengthening medical education systems, capacity building, and the adoption of advanced medical technologies, contributing to the broader goal of universal health coverage, it said.
In urban infrastructure, it said, the Bengaluru and Mumbai metro projects aim to address growing traffic demand by expanding mass rapid transportation systems, thereby improving connectivity, reducing congestion, and supporting climate goals.
The Bengaluru Metro Phase 3 project will develop approximately 44.65 km of elevated corridors with multimodal integration, enhancing travel efficiency and supporting transit-oriented development, it said.
Similarly, it said, the Mumbai Metro Line 11 project will add around 17.51 km of underground corridors, improving connectivity across key urban nodes and enabling seamless integration with major infrastructure such as the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link.
Together, these projects are expected to contribute to economic growth, sustainable cities, and climate action, with implementation led by respective state agencies and completion timelines extending between 2032 and 2034, it said.
JICA aims to promote international cooperation as the sole Japanese government agency responsible for ODA implementation.