Japan gives ODA loan of JPY 232.209 billion to India for nine projects

The bilateral cooperation between India and Japan has got a further boost with Japan committing to provide loans for some critical projects in India. The formal official notes were exchanged between the two countries, writes ETV Bharat's Sutonuka Ghoshal.

Kolkata:Japan has committed Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan of Japanese Yen 232.209 billion for nine projects that include road connectivity, promoting start-up and innovation, sustainable horticulture and others spread across North East, Telangana, Chennai, Haryana and Uttarakhand. The formal official notes were exchanged on Tuesday between Vikas Sheel, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Suzuki Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan to India in New Delhi.

According to the scheme of things, the Japanese yen of 34.54 billion ODA assistance has been allocated to the North East Road Network Connectivity Improvement Project (Phase 3) for the Dhubri-Phulbari bridge. Another Japanese yen of 15.56 billion has been earmarked for the North East Road Network Connectivity Improvement Project (Phase 7) for the Phulbari-Goeragre section.

The others are projects for promoting start-up and innovation in Telangana (JPY 23.7 billion), construction of Chennai Peripheral Ring Road (Phase 2) (JPY 49.85 billion), promoting sustainable horticulture in Haryana (Tranche I) (JPY 16.21 billion), the project for climate change response and ecosystem services enhancement in Rajasthan (JPY 26.13 billion), the establishment of the Medical College Hospital at Nagaland Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Kohima (JPY 10 billion), the project for the improvement of urban water Supply system in Uttarakhand (JPY 16.21 billion) and the dedicated freight corridor Project (Phase 1) (Tranche V) (JPY 40 billion).

The road network connectivity projects aim to improve infrastructure development in India’s North East region, while the Chennai peripheral ring road project aims to alleviate traffic congestion and strengthen connections to the southern part of the state.

The project in Nagaland will help develop tertiary-level medical service delivery by developing a Medical College Hospital contributing towards universal health coverage. A unique project in Telangana will help discover entrepreneurial skills with a focus on women and the rural population and support the business expansion of MSMEs.

In Haryana, the project will promote sustainable horticulture and improve farmer's income by promoting crop diversification and infrastructure development. The forestry project in Rajasthan will enhance ecosystem services through afforestation, forest and biodiversity conservation. In the mountainous state of Uttarakhand, the project aims to provide a stable water supply to urban towns. The fifth tranche of the dedicated freight corridor project will help in the construction of a new dedicated freight railway system and bring about the modernisation of the intermodal logistics system enabling the handling of increased freight traffic.

India and Japan have had a long and fruitful history of bilateral development cooperation since 1958. Economic partnership, a key pillar of India-Japan relations has steadily progressed in the last few years. Today’s exchange of official notes for these important projects will further strengthen the strategic and global partnership between India and Japan.