Comments
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $300-million loan for improvement of roads in Madhya Pradesh.
The loan is towards upgrading over 1,000 km of highways in the eastern and western regions under Madhya Pradesh State Roads Project III, which is part of the Government's ongoing road rehabilitation programme. ADB has extended assistance to the programme previously.
It is pointed out that about 7,400 km of more than 10,000 km of State highways in Madhya Pradesh have already been improved and the current project will help complete the road rehabilitation programme.
According to Mr Lee Ming Tai, Transport Specialist in ADB's South Asia Department, ‘about 30 per cent of Madhya Pradesh's 77 million people live below the official poverty line and upgrading the State highways, which link to major national routes, will sharply improve connectivity to markets and social services, increasing the livelihood opportunities and incomes of the poor, particularly women'.
The project III will expand existing highways into two-lane routes as also construct and strengthen bridges, culverts and cross drainage structures, using environment-friendly and climate proof designs. Also, the roads will undergo a ‘greening' process through planting of shrubs and trees to combat erosion.
The loan from ordinary capital resources of ADB has a 25-year term with a grace period of five years. The interest is set in accordance with the bank's LIBOR-based lending facility. The State Government will provide counterpart funds equivalent to $75 million.
ADB is also extending an associated technical assistance grant of $1 million from its concessional Technical Assistance Special Fund, for which the State Government will provide counterpart funds equivalent to $2.5 lakh. The project is slated for completion in December 2013.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.