ADB commits $250 loan for all-weather roads in 5 states

Source: The Economic Times, Jan 30, 2018

NEW DELHI: Asian Development Bank will give a loan of USD 250 million to the Indian government for construction of all-weather roads in five states under the Prime Minister’s rural road development scheme.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India today signed a $250 million loan to finance the construction of 6,254 kilometres all-weather rural roads Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal under the Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Programme (PMGSY), an official statement said today.

The first tranche of loan is part of the USD 500 million Second Rural Connectivity Investment Programme for India approved by the ADB Board in December 2017.

The programme is aimed at improving rural connectivity, facilitating safer and more efficient access to livelihood and socio-economic opportunities for rural communities through improvements to about 12,000 kilometres Rural Roads across the 5 states.

Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission who signed the agreement for ADB, said the investment will support the Indian government’s drive for innovative approaches to reduce costs, conserve non-renewable natural resources, and promote the use of waste materials in rural road construction.

Road maintenance will be ensured through the provision of a 5-year post-construction maintenance in each civil works contract, he said.

This investment programme builds on the USD 800 million ADB-financed first Rural Connectivity Investment Programme in 2012 that added about 9,000 kilometres of all-weather rural roads in the same states.