Deal signed for improvement of two northeastern states

Agartala: To improve the infrastructure of two northeastern states Tripura and Mizoram, the government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed an $80-million loan on Thursday.

"The loan is the third tranche of a $200-million financing facility under the North Eastern Region Capital Cities Development Investment Program and will be used for investments in water supply, solid waste management and sanitation in Agartala and Aizawl," the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

"It will also support urban reforms, benefiting nearly a million people in the two cities," it added.

Not only these two cities, previous programme tranches have provided assistance to three other cities in the northeast Shillong, Kohima, and Gangtok, the capital cities of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim, respectively.

Joint Secretary (multilateral institutions) in the department of economic affairs, Ministry of Finance, Raj Kumar, signed the agreement on Thursday on behalf of the Indian government

On the other side, Teresa Kho, country director in ADB's India resident mission, signed on behalf of the ADB.

Whereas separate sub-project agreements were signed between central government officials and representatives of the governments of Tripura and Mizoram.

"The loan will support further investments to increase access to sustainable and improved urban services, with Aizwal and Agartala cities, selected for financing under the third tranche of the programme based on their progress on reforms and implementation performance under earlier tranches," the Ministry statement said.

The third tranche loan from ADB's ordinary capital resources has a 20-year term and it's the responsibility of the Urban Development Ministry to implement the third tranche's activities and overall programme, which are both due for completion by June 2019.

Manila-based ADB works to reduce poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members, including 48 from the region.(IANS)