Rajasthan To Get Rs7,000 Crore World Bank Aid

The World Bank yesterday agreed to sanction financial assistance worth Rs 7,000 crore to Rajasthan in the next 18 months.

The Bank is impressed with the performance of the Rajasthan government in the areas of reforms and financial investment, and is willing to initiate another programme in the desert state, Edwin R Lim, India country director of the Bank, told reporters in Jaipur after meetings with the state government officials and Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Lim said the Bank would initiate a lending programme worth Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 7,000 crore focusing on three core sectors: power, water resources and roads. The disbursal will be spread over the ninth plan period.

 

Describing Rajasthan as one of the fastest growing states in the country, Lim said the World Bank had identified Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh as progressive states.

The projects in the pipeline, listed by Lim, include a Rs 1,000 crore project for improvement in the transmission and distribution network in the power sector, a Rs 1,970 crore Rajasthan water resources consolidation project, a Rs 1,930 crore water supply and sewerage project for five major towns, a Rs 740 crore Rajasthan state highway project, a Rs 500 crore district poverty initiative project and a Rs 442.40 crore Jaipur water supply scheme.