The government Tuesday signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a $75 million loan and a $1.8 million grant to help improve water resource management in three towns of Karnataka located in the upper Tungabhadra sub-basin.
According to the finance ministry, this loan from the ADB's ordinary capital resources has a 25-year term including a grace period of five years.
The first tranche of the loan under the 'Karnataka Integrated Urban Water Management Investment Program' is intended to expand and upgrade urban water infrastructure in three towns of Byadagi, Davanagere and Harihar.
Department of Economic Affairs' Joint Secretary Tarun Bajaj said that the project will help increase water treatment capacity by 15,000 cubic meters per day and upgrade more than 1,000 kilometers of water pipelines.
Under the program, the sewage treatment capacity will also go up by 48,000 cubic meters per day.