 "Asian Development Bank loans $500 mn for urban services in Rajasthan")
"ADB today approved two loans worth half a billion dollars to help the government in India's largest state of Rajasthan to better manage essential urban services and finance water and sewerage upgrades," ADB said in a release today.
The $250 million policy loan will be used to help Rajasthan government finance creation of a new corporate-style state body to oversee urban services development and an independent utility in Jaipur to oversee water and waste water operations in the state capital.
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Another $250 million project loan will support water system improvements in five cities - Hanumangarh, Jhunjhunu, Pali, Sri Ganganagar and Tonk - which currently have low piped water coverage and high losses.
"For the first time in India, we have coupled a policy loan to support urban sector reforms with a project loan for infrastructure development to ensure that improvements to urban services like water and waste water can be maintained over the long term," said Fei Yue, Director of the South Asia Urban and Water Division of ADB.
"Reliable urban services will improve health, the quality of life and, ultimately, support economic growth in India's towns and cities," Yue said.
The full programme is expected to be completed by the end of 2019 and it aims to expand water supply in the cities from just 2 hours a day to 24 hours by 2019, as well as sharply increase the collection and treatment of sewage and septage waste, ADB said.
On top of ADB's $500 million loans and a $1 million grant from its Technical Assistance Special Fund to finance capacity building in state institutions, an additional $2 million grant from Sanitation Financing Partnership Trust Fund, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will also be provided.
The trust fund will finance innovative sanitation improvements, including septage management and decentralised waste water treatment, in non-sewered areas for low-income households in two of the cities, it added.