The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Asian Bank team meets officials

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 28, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Asian Bank team meets officials

By T. Ramakrishnan

CHENNAI, FEB. 27. Multilateral agencies such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank may share the funding of rehabilitation projects in Tamil Nadu in the post-tsunami scenario.

While the ADB is likely to support projects for rural infrastructure and municipal administration, the World Bank will provide funds for the fisheries sector, sources say. Discussions are in a preliminary stage.

Water supply, sanitation, roads and health are likely to be covered by the ADB. Livelihood schemes for those outside the fisheries sector may also be supported by it.

On Friday and Saturday, the ADB delegation had discussions with officials of the State Government. Sources say that the team is expected to come again after a week.

It was at the suggestion of the Central Government that the multilateral agencies involved themselves in providing aid to the tsunami-hit areas. Early this month, a 15-member technical team comprising officials of the two Banks and the United Nations visited the affected districts.

Apart from holding consultations with the State Government officials, the multilateral agencies have been ascertaining the extent of damage independently.

`Soft loans'

The two Banks will provide "soft loans" for implementing projects in the affected areas and of the fund allocated, 50 per cent will be given as grants and the other half as loans.

The assistance will be routed through the Central Government, the sources point out, adding that the State Government expects the Centre to pass on the benefit of "low interest rate" to it. The next trip may be the last before the agencies firm up their assistance for the State. The aid programme is likely to be approved by the Boards of Directors of the agencies by the end of March.

Centre's package

So far, the Centre released Rs. 250 crores for meeting the cost of temporary relief works in Tamil Nadu. On January 19, the Union Cabinet made an allotment of about Rs. 2,260 crores to the State towards the first-phase package for tsunami relief.

The sources indicate that the multilateral agencies' aid will be used for making further release of funds to the State. There is also a possibility of Tamil Nadu getting more funds than the allotted.

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