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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Mamata in power, ADB willing to fund projects in West Bengal by Atmadip Ray

Mamata in power, ADB willing to fund projects in West Bengal by Atmadip Ray

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published Published on May 27, 2011   modified Modified on May 27, 2011
International fund floodgates that stayed locked during the Left front regime are now opening up for Mamata Benerjee.

Latest in the "parivartan" syndrome is the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which has given the green signal to go along with one of the state's most ambitious roadway projects - the 271 km express corridor connecting North and South Bengal.

It is a Rs2,270 crore project, which World Bank had refused to fund in the Left Front regime. Now, ADB has decided to provide planning and technical assistance to determine the viability of the project. The initial grant is of $ 1.1 million, if okayed, the project might get full funding by ADB. Cash-strapped West Bengal needs such multilateral and private funding to foster infrastructure development. ADB's decision perhaps marks a critical beginning.

ADB is headed by Rajat Nag, managing director general, while West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra was the Ficci secretary general for a long time. The new Ficci secretary general Rajiv Kumar, is also ex-ADB who had held several senior positions in the bank's headquarters at Manila. It may be purely coincidental, but the new combination seems to have worked well for the state.

World Bank had earlier rejected the funding proposal as cash-strapped West Bengal was not ready to even bear the project preparation cost. Experts said that while ADB has a provision to offer grants for project preparation, World Bank has no such system.

A senior ADB official said that the agency normally offers a grant when it has inprinciple agreed to fund the entire project.

"A grant is normally followed by a loan. It can safely be inferred that once a project is prepared in sync with ADB guidelines, the lender will extend a loan to the state. But the project has to be a viable one" the source said.

Malay Ghosh, director, project implementation in the public works department of West Bengal government, said his department has recently received ADB clearance for initial support. ADB has an exposure close to $ 79 million in the state's road sector.

"We have estimated the project cost atRs2,270 crore, which includes cost of land acquisition and resettlement of people. ADB is expected to extend the full loan support for the project, barring the cost of land acquisition and resettlement," said Mr Ghosh, who is in charge of ADB funded road projects in the state.

The Economic Times, 27 May, 2011, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/mamata-in-power-adb-willing-to-fund-projects-in-west-bengal/articleshow/8595415.cms


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