World Bank approves USD 680 mn loans for 3 projects of Assam

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) The World Bank on Wednesday said its executive board has approved USD 680 million loans for three projects in Assam.

The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors on Tuesday approved three projects to help Assam increase resilience to extreme weather events, improve governance and service delivery, and provide more than 4 million students with the skills they need to succeed in the workforce, Washington-based multilateral funding agency said in a statement.

Sharing details of the projects, the statement said, Assam Disaster Resilient Hill Roads Development Project will get a loan support of USD 350 million to help build climate-resilient roads, especially in hilly areas, and reduce travel time for about 190,000 people in tribal and rural communities.

The project will improve connectivity with improved transport and logistics hubs that have truck bays, container bays, taxi and bus bays, and electric vehicle charging points, it said.

About USD 250 million loan has been allocated for School Education and Adolescent Wellbeing Project for improving learning outcomes for more than 2 million primary school students across the state and prepare another 2 million adolescents (aged 10-19) for jobs with life-skills training and enhanced curriculum, including multilingual classes.

The Assam Governance and Service Delivery Program worth USD 80 million will help strengthen public financial management, including the allocation and spending of public resources, delivery of administrative services to both people and businesses and the data ecosystem in Assam.

"The Assam Disaster Resilient Hill Roads Development Project has a final maturity of 16 years including a grace period of three years; the Assam: School Education and Adolescent Wellbeing Project has a final maturity of 16 years including a grace period of three years; and the Assam Governance and Service Delivery Program for Results has a final maturity of 16 years including a grace period of three years," it said. PTI DP TRB