ADB to inject $ 4-bn in Indian infra sector

Injecting a major booster to the Indian infrastructure sector, Asian Development Bank has decided to scale up its annual lending to India to over $4 billion, including private sector lending, in the next few years, informed Country Director India, Kenichi Yokoyoma. It may be recalled that ADB had committed $3 billion in sovereign lending to India, the highest ever annual commitment. In addition to this, ADB lent $557 million to the private sector in 2018. The increased lending envelope for India is in line with the commitment made by ADB to the Government of India for upscaling its lending to the Indian economy. ADB’s overall India portfolio comprises 82 ongoing projects worth $13.7 billion spanning six sectors and covering 25 states. It has also committed $1 billion per year over the next five years for the ₹2,500-km East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) development. The multilateral institution has supplemented its lending assistance to India with knowledge support through analytical and operational studies to help partners identify and develop transformative projects. Meanwhile, ADB has stuck to its December 2018 forecast of 7.3 per cent GDP growth for India in 2018-19. Indian economy is on a recovery mode and credit flow to industry and infrastructure is likely to improve in the coming days, said ADB Economist, Abhijit Sengupta.