To support development programmes in India, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is involved in constructing or upgrading 31,000 km of rural roads in the five lagging States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. This is being done by lending support to separate projects under the Prime Minister's Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) that focuses on connecting habitations that are inaccessible in rural areas. Over 12,500 villages previously not served are being connected in the five States by new stretches of rural roads.

Showcasing some of the work it has done on rural roads, ADB has launched a report, “India Development Effectiveness Brief 2014”. Apart from detailing its ongoing projects in the areas of infrastructure finance, water resource management, fiscal reforms, agri-business infrastructure management and skill development, the publication focuses on the three long-term investments it has made of about ₹12,600 crore loans in rural roads since 2003.

According to M Teresa Kho, Country Director for ADB in India, “improved rural connectivity is already showing results in the form of more employment opportunities, better remuneration for farmers’ produce, improved health indicators and better school enrolment in rural areas”.

Kanupriya Gupta, Project Officer (Development Results), in her presentation, gave the example of Balachand Rabha, a poultry farmer in Kamrup district of Assam who, thanks to the newly built rural road in his area, has been able to increase his income two-fold. Earlier, the 30-year-old had been losing 35-40 per cent of the eggs produced to breakage on the way to the market, due to the rough stony path that connected his farm in Bathan to the market.

ADB-supported Rural Roads Sector Investment Programmes have built or upgraded more than 22,000 km of rural roads.

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