The World Bank today agreed for $297 million support to two Indian states -- Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh -- for projects related to poverty and land reclamation.
"Agreements relating to the 'Second Madhya Pradesh District Poverty Initiatives Project' and 'Uttar Pradesh Sodic Lands Reclamation III Project' were signed here today," the government said in a note.
The two agreements were signed between multilateral lending agency World Bank, government of India and the state governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the Finance Ministry said.
The MP project was signed for an International Development Association credit of $100 million, and the UP project was signed for $197 million.
The second MP poverty initiatives project and the third UP sodic land reclamation project are expected to be completed by December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015, respectively.
The development objective of the MP project would be to improve the capacity and opportunities for the targeted rural poor to achieve sustainable livelihoods, the note said.
The components of the project include social empowerment and institution building, livelihoods investment support, employment promotion support and project implementation support.