Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi met today to discuss the country’s development priorities. Mr. Asakawa conveyed ADB’s intention to provide $20 billion–$25 billion resources over 5 years to advance the country’s aspirations for fast, inclusive, and green growth.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Asakawa discussed a range of issues, including ADB support to India’s infrastructure and social development and climate actions, scaling up ADB assistance to meet the country’s priority development needs, and ADB’s country partnership strategy (CPS) for India, 2023–2027. ADB is now finalizing the new 5-year CPS following a comprehensive stakeholder consultation process.
“India and ADB have had a long and valuable partnership, and we look forward to enhancing this to tackle the region’s complex development challenges,” Mr. Asakawa said. “ADB will provide multifaceted support for India’s key priorities, including the important infrastructure push under the PM’s Gati Shakti (National Master Plan for multimodal connectivity) initiative, building future cities, mobilizing domestic resources, and strengthening basic services in disadvantaged districts.”
The green growth agenda will drive ADB’s India program to help the country fulfill its global climate action commitments. ADB will focus on supporting the decarbonization of transport and the clean energy transition, including carbon market development and circular economy transition. Climate change adaptation actions are planned through projects on flood management, coastal protection, water use efficiency improvement, and agriculture value chain development.
Mr. Asakawa congratulated Mr. Modi on India’s assumption of the Group of 20 (G20) presidency and reaffirmed ADB’s support to the G20 agenda. As a guest international organization at the G20 meetings and Leaders’ Summit, ADB is supporting the priorities of India’s presidency across the finance and sherpa tracks.
Congratulating the Prime Minister on his leadership in effectively combating the COVID-19 pandemic and steering the country towards a quick post-pandemic recovery, Mr. Asakawa said despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic, India remains the fastest growing major economy with expected 7% growth in fiscal year 2022, ending 31 March 2023.
Mr. Asakawa also met with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and outlined ADB efforts to achieve annual regular lending of $4 billion from its sovereign operations in the next few years.
ADB started operations in India in 1986. As of 31 December 2022, it had committed $52.28 billion in sovereign lending in the country and $6.75 billion in nonsovereign lending and investment. ADB’s current India portfolio comprises 64 projects worth about $16 billion across the transport, urban, energy, human development, agriculture and natural resources, and finance sectors.
In Delhi, Mr. Asakawa will visit the ADB-funded Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Investment Project and travel to Bengaluru to participate in the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting on 24–25 February.
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