ADB commits $65.5 mn to check coastal erosion in Karnataka

The Asian Development Bank has signed a USD 65.5 million loan agreement with India for checking coastal erosion on the western coast of Karnataka.
The loan is the second tranche of a USD 250 million financing facility under the Sustainable Coastal Protection and Management Investment Programme, ADB said in a statement.
The financing will be used to address the immediate coastal protection needs and for strengthening institutional capacity of Karnataka's public works, ports and inland water transport department.
The agreement was signed yesterday by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions) Finance Ministry and ADB's country director Kenichi Yokoyama in Bengaluru.

Karnataka's coast supports the state's major economic sectors such as fisheries, agriculture, tourism, ports, transportation and communications, it said.
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.

Under increasing threat from climate change impacts, coastal protection and management has evolved as a major challenge to development.
It further said that the second tranche loan from ADB's ordinary capital resources has a 20-year term.
Besides, the Manila-based multi-lateral funding agency released a book on 50 years of ADB.
"ADB has played an important role in the transformation of Asia and the Pacific over the past 50 years," it said in a separate statement.

As ADB continues to evolve and adapt to the region's changing development landscape, the experiences highlighted in this book can provide valuable insight on how best to serve Asia and the Pacific in the future, it said.