New Delhi, Mar 10: Japan on Monday approved a package of about Rs 7,074 crore in the form of soft loan assistance for projects in the areas of power, transportation, water supply and environment in India.

Japan has already committed Rs 1,345 crore loan package last August to India. With the fresh assistance, the total soft loan to the country this financial year is Rs 8582 crore, the Japan embassy said in a release.

Japanese Ambassador to India Hideaki Domichi and India's Finance Ministry Joint Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna exchanged notes to formalise the agreement to this effect here today.

These concessional loans will be made available through the Japan Bank for international cooperation, generally at 1.2 per cent per annum, and will have the repayment period of 30 years, including the grace period of 10 years.

The package covers seven large-scale projects, including Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System Project (about Rs 2,864 crore), Haryana Transmission System Project (about Rs 830 crore), Uttar Pradesh Participatory Forest Management and Poverty Alleviation Project (about Rs 530 crore), Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Project (about Rs 339 crore) and Kolkata east-west Metro Project (about Rs 255 crore).

The embassy said that phase-II of the Delhi Metro Project (DMP) would continue to receive financial assistance from Japan. Following the successful DMP, the Kolkata Metro Project would also receive the assistance in this package, it added.