India signs loan agreement with World Bank to provide additional financing for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Rural Roads Project

On May 31, the Government of India (GoI) and the World Bank (WB) have signed a $500 million loan agreement to provide additional financing for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Rural Roads Project. The project will be implemented by Union Ministry of Rural Development. The Ministry will build 7,000 km of climate resilient roads, out of which 3,500 km will be constructed using green technologies. The loan has a 3-year grace period and a maturity of 10 years. The World Bank has supported PMGSY since its inception in 2004. So far it has invested over $1.8 billion in loans and credits mostly in the economically weaker and hill states across North India – Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. It has built and improved about 35,000 km of rural roads and benefited about eight million people with access to all-weather roads.