India and ADB $250 Million Loan Agreement details, features

India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) Signed $250 Million Loan Agreement

India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) of Philippines have signed a 250 million dollar loan agreement on 30th January 2018 in New Delhi.

The loan agreement was signed between Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions) at the Department of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance and Kenichi Yokoyama, ADB Country Director for India.

The loan agreement aimed to improve rural connectivity in 5 Indian States, under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) which includes Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.

The loan agreement would lead to the construction of 6,254 km of all-weather rural roads in these 5 States.

The First Tranche Loan is part of the $500 million Second Rural Connectivity Investment Program for India approved by the ADB Board in December 2017.

The Second rural Connectivity Investment Program chiefly focused on improving rural connectivity, facilitating safer and more efficient access to livelihood and socio-economic opportunities for rural communities through improvements to about 12,000 km Rural Roads across the 5 States.

Under the project, about 2,000 technical personnel would also be trained on road safety and maintenance