Japan on Monday approved a massive loan package of about Rs. 7,074 crore in the form of soft loan assistance for various projects including Delhi and Kolkata Metro, infrastructure project in Tamil Nadu, transmission project in Haryana and road projects in Hyderabad. The areas to be covered under the new loan package include power, transportation, water supply and environment, according to an official release by Japan Embassy. Japan had already committed Rs. 1,345-crore loan to India in August last. With the fresh assistance, the total soft loan to the country this financial year stands at Rs. 8, 582 crore. Japanese Ambassador to India Hideaki Domichi and Joint Secretary in the Finance Ministry Kumar Sanjay Krishna exchanged notes to formalise the agreement to this effect here on Monday. These concessional loans will be made available through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation JBIC) at 1.2 per cent annually and will have the repayment period of 30 years, including the grace period of 10 years. The package covers seven large-scale projects, including the second phase of the Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System project (about Rs. 2,864 crore), the Haryana Transmission System project (about Rs. 830 crore), the Uttar Pradesh Participatory Forest Management and Poverty Alleviation Project (about Rs. 530 crore), the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure project (about Rs. 339 crore) and the Kolkata East-West Metro Project (about Rs. 255 crore). It said Phase-II of the Delhi Metro Project would continue to receive financial assistance from Japan. Following the successful implementation of the Delhi Metro project, the Kolkata Metro Project would also receive the assistance in this package. "The main objective of loan assistance is to support India in establishing physical infrastructure to boost and sustain economic growth,' the release stated.