Bhopal, Oct 13 (KNN) To develop water supply and integrated storm water and sewage management infrastructure and strengthen capacities of urban local bodies (ULBs) for improved service delivery in the state of Madhya Pradesh, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India on Monday have signed a $270 million loan.

This is an additional financing to scale up the scope of the ongoing Madhya Pradesh Urban Services Improvement Project, which was approved in 2017 with a $275 million loan. It will expand the outcome of the current project by covering additional 64 small cities benefiting 185,000 households consisting of about 1.3 million people.

Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary (Fund Bank and ADB), Department of Economic Affairs in India’s Ministry of Finance and Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission were signed the loan agreement.

After signing the loan agreement, he said the project will improve livability in selected cities with provision of universal access to basic water and sanitation services for the residents. This is aligned to the vision of the Government of Madhya Pradesh to improve urban infrastructure services with universal coverage of piped water supply in all urban local bodies by 2025.

Konishi said that through this project, ADB will continue innovative approaches and good practices of the ongoing project including universal coverage with 100% household metering, full operation and maintenance cost recovery, and reducing nonrevenue water. The provision of inclusive water and sanitation services to the urban poor will help achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 or access to clean water and sanitation for all.

The project will receive support fr0m the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, specifically for the integration of Citywide Inclusive Sanitation principles into the planning, design, implementation, operation, and maintenance of the sanitation subprojects.

As in the previous loan, the project will support the continued institutional strengthening and capacity building of the Urban Development and Housing Department and Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Company Limited.

The project will pilot an integrated urban development approach to improve urban service delivery and infrastructure of two urban local bodies. ADB’s technical support will provide a significant model that can be used to replicate and scale up the enhancement of urban livability in other localities.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 fr0m the region.