Smart technologies included in project innovations.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed US$570 million financings for developing water and sanitation services in Rajasthan’s 14 secondary towns and to improve urban services in 64 Madhya Pradesh small cities.
The bigger loan of US$300 million, signed with the Indian Government, is to finance inclusive and sustainable water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services in 14 secondary towns of Rajasthan.
Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, signed the loan with Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary (Fund Bank and ADB), Department of Economic Affairs.
Konishi said ADB incorporated practical lessons from the three earlier urban sector projects it has funded in Rajasthan since 2000 and included innovations such as the use of smart technologies and cost-effective systems.
The project will empower urban local bodies, and strengthen their institutional capacity; deepen sector reforms, and build resilience of communities to manage health pandemics, said Konishi after signing the loans on 12 Oct 2020.
Through the project, water supply systems in at least eight project towns are expected to improve by 2027, benefiting more than 570,000 people. Citywide sanitation systems will benefit about 720,000 people in at least14 secondary towns.
The project will strengthen the institutional capacity of the local governments and the Rajasthan Urban Drinking Water, Sewerage, and Infrastructure Corporation Limited, a corporate entity established with ADB’s technical support.
Enhanced support to women and vulnerable groups will be provided through skills training, paid internships, and community engagement and awareness activities.
The investments in water supply and sanitation (WSS) with 10-operation and maintenance contracts will ensure improved and sustainable service delivery in line with the state government’s urban sector development plan.
The second loan of US$270 million is to develop water supply and integrated stormwater and sewage management infrastructure as well as strengthen capacities of urban local bodies (ULBs) for improved service delivery in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
This is additional financing to scale up the scope of the ongoing Madhya Pradesh Urban Services Improvement Project, which was approved in 2017 with a US$275 million loan.
It will expand the outcome of the current project by covering additional 64 small cities benefiting 185,000 households consisting of about 1.3 million people.
Through this project, ADB will continue innovative approaches and good practices of the ongoing project including universal coverage with 100% household metering, full operation and maintenance cost recovery, and reducing nonrevenue water, said Konishi.
The provision of inclusive water and sanitation services to the urban poor will help achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 or access to clean water and sanitation for all.
After signing the loan agreement with Konishi, Khare said the project is aligned to the vision of the Government of Madhya Pradesh to improve urban infrastructure services with universal coverage of piped water supply in all urban local bodies by 2025.
The project will receive support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, specifically for the integration of Citywide Inclusive Sanitation principles into the planning, design, implementation, operation, and maintenance of the sanitation subprojects.
As in the previous loan, the project will support the continued institutional strengthening and capacity building of the Urban Development and Housing Department and Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Company Limited.
The project will pilot an integrated urban development approach to improve urban service delivery and infrastructure of two urban local bodies. ADB’s technical support will provide a significant model that can be used to replicate and scale up the enhancement of urban livability in other localities. #banking #loans #projects #tenders #infrastructure #sanitation #water /fiinews.com
