AIIB approves $140 million loan to improve Rural Connectivity in Madhya Pradesh

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have approved $140 million loan for project aimed at improving rural roads (connectivity) in Madhya Pradesh. It was approved at meeting of Board of Directors of AIIB recently held in Beijing, China.

Key Facts

The Project will be co-financed with World Bank. It aims to improve rural road connectivity and management for residents of about 5,640 villages who use the rural roads for daily activities.  It also aims to improve durability and accessibility and enhance resilience to climate change of gravel surfaced rural road in Madhya Pradesh. The project will also employ more women, thus contributing to gender equality and income generation.

Activities planned under project are

• Upgrade gravel surfaced roads to sealed surface standard.
• Provide additional linkages to villages with potential for high growth.
• Enhance institutional capacity through implementing and upgrading rural road asset management system.
• Strengthen design and research and quality assurance capacity of implementing agency.
• Develop road safety management capacity with road accident data management system and pilot comprehensive road safety program.

Significance

The project will provide sustainable and safe last-mile connectivity to small villages and improve mobility of rural population of Madhya Pradesh. It will stimulate economic development in entire state and improve livelihoods of rural population, especially rural women and girls. It will directly benefit around 1.5 million rural residents in Madhya Pradesh from improved livelihoods, education and mobility. It will build the capacity of state to manage its rural road network and road safety.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

AIIB is multilateral development bank initiated by China. Its purpose is to provide finance to infrastructure development and regional connectivity projects in Asia-Pacific region. It was officially established in December 2015 and opened for business in January 2016. It is headquartered in Beijing, China.
Its goals are to boost economic development in Asia-Pacific region, provide infrastructure, and promote regional cooperation and partnership. It prioritises investment in energy, power generation, transport, rural infrastructure, environmental protection and logistics in Asia.
So far it has 84 members including India. It has an authorised capital of US $100 billion. China is largest shareholder of AIIB with 26.06% voting shares. India with 7.5% vote share is second largest shareholder followed by Russia, Germany and South Korea..

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2018