Mumbai, Jan 4 (KNN) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday signed a USD 350 million loan with the Government of India to improve the connectivity of key economic areas in Maharashtra.

The MoU for the Connecting Economic Clusters for Inclusive Growth in Maharashtra project was signed by Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, and Hoe Yun Jeong, Officer-in-Charge of ADB’s India Resident Mission.

Addressing the occasion, Mishra said “the connectivity project will help address intra-regional disparities, help facilitate access to services, and accelerating inclusive economic growth of lagging districts in the state.”

“This project builds on ADB’s ongoing support to upgrade state highways and major district roads in Maharashtra,” said Jeong.

Under this project, at least 319 kilometres (km) of state highways and 149 km of district roads will be upgraded incorporating climate and disaster-resilient features to strengthen the state’s core road network in the 10 districts of Ahmednagar, Hingoli, Jalna, Kohalpur, Nagur, Nanded, Nashik, Pune, Sangli, and Satara.

This initiative will help connect underdeveloped rural communities with off-farm opportunities and markets, improve access to health and social services and improve agricultural value chains by reducing transport costs for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The project will also allow for the construction of a 5 km of major district roads connecting Nanded and neighbouring Telangana, as per the official statement.

The project will demonstrate the private sector’s effectiveness in undertaking long-term road maintenance for greater life-cycle quality and operational efficiency.  (KNN Bureau)