Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday it will provide up to $7-9 billion loan to India over the next three years to support infrastructure development in the country.
?ADB’s operations for India will maintain high level of lending, amounting to a total of $7-9 billion over the next three years,? The multilateral lender’s president Takehiko Nakao said at a press conference. ADB will provide around $30 million for technical assistance grants for building institutions and capacity at the state as well as the grassroot levels, he said.
Nakao, who is on a two-day official visit, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley and discussed macroeconomic situation and ADB’s funding programme to boost infrastructure sector.
Nakao said he told the PM and the finance minister that ADB will help India accelerate infrastructure development, give a boost to the manufacturing sector, improve skills among youths to enhance their employability, expand trade through regional cooperation, and promote private sector activities.
Stressing that India has a potential to grow at 10%, Nakao said according to ADB’s estimates, the economy is expected to expand at 5.5% in FY15 and 6.3% in FY16. RBI has projected the GDP growth for 2014-15 fiscal at 5.5% and the Economic Survey had pegged growth between 5.4-5.9%. ?To get back to a high growth path of 8% to 9%, it is crucial to implement investment-friendly reforms,? Nakao said.
