AIIB clears $329-mn for road sector

In an encouraging development in the road sector, the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) recently announced its approval for a $329 million loan to build access roads across 4,000 villages in Gujarat. The project has been approved by the bank‘s board of directors and entails construction and upgradation of district and farm-to-market roads for the villagers. The funds have been approved to construct road linkages for last-mile connectivity to schools and tribal areas in 33 districts of the state. The bank said that insufficient road connectivity to these villages limits their ability to access healthcare services, bring their goods to the market and access transportation for their children to attend school. It also added that the project will introduce a first-of-its-kind digitized map that would link ongoing rural road projects to enable real-time monitoring. AIIB‘s vice-president and chief investment officer D.J. Pandian said that the project will also help to integrate rural population, tribal villages, business and industries with the national and state economy through better connectivity.