India and ADB Sign $80 Million Loan Agreement to Improve Urban Services

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed an $80million loan agreement to continue improving infrastructure in two North Eastern State Capital cities Agartala (Tripura) and Aizwal (Mizoram).

The loan is the third part of a $200 million financing facility under the North Eastern Region Capital cities Development Investment Program.

How will it help Agartala and Aizwal ?

It will be used for investments in water supply, solid waste management and sanitation in Agartala and Aizwal.
It will also support urban reforms, benefiting nearly a million people in the two cities.
It will help to improve and expand services, as well as strengthening the institutional, managerial, and financial capacity of service institutions.
To increase access to sustainable and improved urban services.

What happened in the first and second part of North Eastern Region Capital cities Development Investment Program?

Part 1 of the programme:

Loan sanctioned : 25.54 million $

Work :

(i) improve and expand urban infrastructure and services in the cities including in slums and

(ii) strengthen urban institutional, management, and the financing capacity of the institutions, including the urban local bodies.

Cities targeted:

Agartala , Aizawl , Shillong , Kohima , and Gangtok .

Part 2 of the program:

Loan sanctioned : 60 million $

Work :

to support physical improvement of urban infrastructure in water supply systems, sewerage and sanitation systems, and solid waste management in these cities.
support the program cities to achieve improved urban governance and financing, municipal financial reform, improved service delivery and improved capacity to manage the Investment Program.

Cities targeted:

Agartala , Aizawl , Shillong , Kohima , and Gangtok

Asian development bank facts:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established to promote social and economic development in Asia.
The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and non-regional developed countries.
ADB has 67 members.
Voting: Japan holds the largest proportion of shares at 15.7%.The United States holds 15.6%, China holds 6.5%, India holds 6.4%, and Australia holds 5.8%.
The ADB offers “hard” loans on commercial terms primarily to middle income countries in Asia and “soft” loans with lower interest rates to poorer countries in the region.
Critics: The two major donors, Japan and the United States, have had extensive influence over lending, policy and staffing decisions.

Asian Development Bank and India :

India was a founding member of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
India is the fourth-largest shareholder.( 6.4%)
ADB has approved 189 sovereign loans amounting to $31.3 billion during 1986–2014.
ADB’s country partnership strategy (CPS), 2013–2017 for India aims to support the government’s Twelfth Five-Year Plan priorities of “faster, more inclusive, and sustainable growth.”

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