State to benefit from $250 mn ADB loan for roads

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New Delhi, Jan 30: Asian Development Bank will give a loan of $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 Tuesday 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 Tuesday.
The first tranche of loan is part of the $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 $800 million ADB-financed first Rural Connectivity Investment Programme in 2012.