News Excerpt:
Recently, The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved two loans to India, each worth $250 million.
About the pacts:
First loan pact:
- It is regarding the funding for the construction of an Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor.
- Earlier, ADB approved a $ 1,049 million Multi-tranche Financing Facility (MFF) for the project in 2020 to support the construction of RRTS.
- RRTS is the rail corridor planned under the NCR Regional Plan 2021, to connect Delhi to other cities in adjoining states.
- The RRTS will have multi-modal hubs to ensure smooth interchange with other transport modes.
- The investment project will enable the RRTS to improve urban mobility, and the project's economic impacts will also benefit women and the differently abled.
Second loan pact:
- The other loan of $ 250 million towards continued support to industrial corridor development to make manufacturing more competitive, strengthen national supply chains and links with regional and global value chains, and create more and better jobs.
- The other loan of $ 250 million is towards Subprogram 2 of the Industrial Corridor.
- This loan builds on the $ 250 million Subprogram 1 loan approved by ADB in 2021 that helped strengthen policy frameworks for the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP) and develop 11 industrial corridors.
| NICDP is India's most ambitious infrastructure programme aiming to develop new industrial cities as "Smart Cities" and converging next generation technologies across infrastructure sectors. |
- It will help in the integration of industrial corridors with transport, logistics and urban facilities under the Prime Minister Gati Shakti platform.
- The program is expected to create jobs in the manufacturing sector in industrial nodes, covering areas such as agribusiness, automotives, electronics, food and beverages, heavy machinery, pharmaceuticals, and textiles.
- It will contribute to the alleviation of poverty in the corridor states.
