ADB to give $200 mn loan to India for solid waste management in 100 cities

ADB's support will upgrade and establish solid waste processing and management facilities such as bio-methanation plants and composting plants

Asian Development Bank and the Government of India recently signed a $ 200 million (about Rs 1,700 crore) loan to improve solid waste management and sanitation in 100 cities across eight states in the country.

The signatories to the loan agreement for the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 -Comprehensive Municipal Waste Management in Indian Cities Program were Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary, Finance Ministry, and Mio Oka, Country Director for Asian Development Bank (ADB) - India Resident Mission, the Manila-based multilateral funding agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

After signing the loan agreement, Mukherjee said that the programme supports the objectives of the government's Swachh Bharat (Clean India) Mission - Urban 2.0 by enhancing sanitation and solid waste management infrastructure, including waste segregation, collection and disposal.

"This programme is guided by lessons derived from ADB's experience in urban infrastructure development across several states and will incorporate international best practices, new digital technologies, and mainstream climate- and disaster-resilient approaches in municipal solid waste management to promote a clean environment free from garbage and pollution," Oka said.

ADB's support will upgrade and establish solid waste processing and management facilities such as bio-methanation plants, composting plants, managed landfills, material recovery facilities, and plastic waste processing facilities, it said.

It will also support the construction of community toilets and urinals and the purchase of sweeping equipment, it said, adding that these facilities and delivery of urban services will include climate- and disaster-resilient, gender equality and social inclusion-responsive features.

The programme will build urban local bodies' capacity for waste management and sanitation, encourage peer-to-peer learning, and proactively engage with the private sector, it said.

It will help conduct annual reviews and progress updates of city-wide solid waste and sanitation action plans, it added.