The multilateral financing agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $350 million amounting to about Rs 2,900 crore loans to boost the road connectivity of key economic areas in Maharashtra. The loans will enable the state to link economic clusters ensuring inclusive growth to further develop the state’s core road network in Ahmednagar, Hingoli, Jalna, Kohalpur, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Pune, Sangli and Satara.
The funds will also help connect underdeveloped rural communities with off-farm opportunities and market, improving access to health and social services and improve agricultural value chains by reducing transport costs for small and medium-sized enterprises.
It will build on the Maharashtra State Road Improvement Project approved by ADB in April 2020 to upgrade state highways and major district roads and upgrade at least 319 kms of state highways and 149 km of district roads, incorporating climate and disaster-resilient features. It will also construct 5 km of major district roads connecting Nanded and Telangana. The project will promote gender equality and social inclusion in highway programmes, schools, health, and social services and set up integrated service centres to provide basic sanitation, education, and other services. In its entirety, ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
