ADB & India Signed Loan Agreement worth $400million for High-quality Urban Infrastructure

Indian Government & Asian Development Bank (ADB) which is headquartered in Manila signed a USD 400 million policy-based loan to support its urban reform agenda to create high-quality urban infrastructure, improve service delivery, and promote efficient governance systems.

Both the parties signed the loan agreement for sub-programme 2 of the Sustainable Urban Development and Service Delivery Programme were Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB's India Resident Mission.

Sub-programme 1 approved in 2021 with a financing of $350 million established national-level policies and guidelines to improve urban services, Sub-programme 2 supports investment planning and reform actions at the state and urban local body (ULB) levels.

Konishi said, “The programme supports the government's urban sector strategy with a focus on reforms aimed at making cities livable and centres of economic growth through the provisioning of inclusive, resilient and sustainable infrastructure. Sub-programme 2 supports the reforms initiated by states and ULBs in operationalizing the national flagship programme of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 targeted for universal access to water supply and sanitation.”

The sub-programme also supports other mission objectives for ensuring urban water security through reducing water losses, recycling treated sewage for non-domestic use, rejuvenation of water bodies, and maintaining sustainable groundwater levels.

The programme also focused on integrated urban planning reforms to control urban sprawls and foster systemic and planned urbanization through enhancing the entire ecosystem of legal, regulatory, and institutional reforms, along with capacity building of ULBs and community awareness.

Such integrated planning processes will incorporate climate and disaster resilience promote nature-based solutions, improve the urban environment, and improve the financial sustainability of the cities through additional revenues.

This programme will help cities to mobilise innovative financing, such as commercial borrowings, issuance of municipal bonds, sub-sovereign debts, and public-private partnership to bridge the gap of monetary deficits in urban infrastructure investments.