ADB, India ink pact to upgrade 176 km roads in Jharkhand

NEW DELHI: Multilateral lending agency Asian Development Bank ( ADB) today signed an agreement with India for providing new loan of $200 million to upgrade 176 km of roads in Jharkhand.

"For achieving faster growth, Jharkhand needs to improve mobility through better roads. Besides upgrading 176 km of roads, the project will help the state develop an international standard road safety master plan for promoting road safety in Jharkhand," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The total cost of the project, due to be completed by December 2019, is $306.25 million, it said, adding that Jharkhand government will provide counterpart assistance equivalent to $106.25 million.

This will enhance the state's ability to systematically identify, analyse, develop and prioritise critical road safety measures, which will benefit all road users, it said.

ADB's India Resident Mission Country Director Teresa Kho said ADB has been supporting the state's goals of improving road connectivity by providing an initial loan for upgrading 311 km of state roads in 2009.

Kho said that the new assistance will increase the institutional capacity of the State Highways Authority of Jharkhand (SHAJ) as an autonomous road development agency.

"Together, the two projects are rehabilitating 487 km of state highways, she concluded," she said.