Le Khac Huynh, deputy head of the HCMC Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), told the Daily on October 5 that the three lenders would provide the extra finance for the city to have sufficient funding for the project.

On September 30, the city government wrote to relevant ministries seeking approval for a capital increase in the city’s second metro line from nearly US$1.37 billion to over US$2 billion due to the fall of the Vietnam dong against the U.S. dollar and metro track design change.

Huynh said the design change has led the total cost of the metro line to go up and the foreign lenders have agreed on funding the differential.

Metro line No. 2 was approved by the city government in 2010 and revised in 2013 with a total investment of US$1.37 billion. The HCMC Management Authority for Urban Railways is the investor of the project.

Of the total amount, the ADB finances US$540 million, KfW US$313 million and EIB US$195 million and the city’s reciprocal capital is US$326.5 million.

The additional lending includes US$500 million from the ADB, US$56 million from the EIB and US$168 million from KfW.

Huynh said the construction site of the project is being cleared. The city government has approved taking back land from around 800 households in districts 1, 3, 10, 12, Tan Binh and Tan Phu.

In a document sent to the Ministry of Planning and Investment late last month, the city government said it was reviewing and completing a capital adjustment file for submission to the Prime Minister for consideration this month in accordance with the Law on Public Investment.

Metro line No. 2 is designed to stretch nearly 20 kilometers from Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2 to Tay Ninh Coach Station. As scheduled, the 11-kilometer section from Ben Thanh in District 1 to Tham Luong in District 12 will be developed in phase one with 9.3 kilometers going underground along Cach Mang Thang 8 Street and the remaining elevated section along Truong Chinh Street.

In mid-January, MAUR started work on the control building and auxiliary works at Tham Luong Depot. This was the first package of Metro Line No. 2 to get off the ground.

The control building comprises one basement and eight floors and is being constructed at a cost of VND173 billion in around one year and a half.