The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government of India inked $2.5 million project readiness financing (PRF) loan to support project preparation and design activities to upgrade major district roads in Sikkim that will help improve connectivity to important towns, rural areas, pilgrimage and tourist destinations in the North-Eastern state.
The PRF will support the state government’s priority in improving road connectivity in the state through planning and designing of major district and other roads and bridges.
The PRF project aims to ensure implementation readiness through feasibility studies, preparing detailed engineering designs of selected subprojects and building capacity of state agencies so that the ensuing project gets completed in a timely manner.
It will also help incorporate elements of road safety, maintenance and climate adaptation and mitigation in the ensuing project for long-term sustainability of created assets.
Sikkim’s road network requires upgradation to all-weather roads as frequent landslides and erosion damage roads and disrupts intra-state connectivity.
Some of the priority roads identified for upgradation are included in the state’s Master Plan for transport management that was formulated with ADB technical assistance in 2012. The ADB-funded North-Eastern State Roads Investment Program launched in 2011 had earlier supported road improvements in Sikkim.
