The Asian Development Bank has recently signed a $65.5 million loan agreement with India to address the immediate coastal protection needs and for strengthening institutional capacity of Karnataka’s public works, ports and inland water transport department and also checking coastal erosion on the western coast of Karnataka. The loan is the second tranche of a $250-million financing facility under the Sustainable Coastal Protection and Management Investment Program, ADB said in a statement. The agreement was signed recently by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions), Finance Ministry, and ADB’s Country Director Kenichi Yokoyama in Bengaluru. Coastal erosion in the State, where the project is focused, poses a high risk to human wellbeing, economic development and ecological integrity through loss of land, infrastructure and business opportunities. It further said that the second tranche loan from ADB’s ordinary capital resources has a 20-year term.
