ADB to provide $6.25 bn assistance to India

Manila, May 5 (PTI) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide assistance of USD 6.25 billion to India over three years for various projects, including those in the energy and education sectors. "ADB's three-year country operations business plan for India for 2012-2014 will provide lending assistance of USD 6.25 billion to support inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth," Secretary, ADB, Robert Dawson told PTI. The lending support will go to key areas like transport, energy, urban development, agriculture natural resource management, finance and education. Prior to this, ADB has approved 159 loans (sovereign and non-sovereign) for India amounting to USD 24.12 billion. While India is a founding member of ADB dating back to 1966, the bank's lending operations in India commenced only in 1986, and New Delhi has just completed 25 years of its partnership with Manila headquartered bank. India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who was today elected as Chairman of the ADB's Board of Governors, said, "During our exciting and challenging journey of economic growth, ADB has been a valued multilateral partner." He went on to add, "I deem it an honour to host the next Annual Meeting ...." India will host the 46th meeting of the Board Governors of ADB in New Delhi next year. ADB has 67 members, of which 48 are from Asia. The US and Japan are the largest shareholders of the bank while India is the fifth largest. PTI