New Delhi, Feb 20 (FN Agency) Japan has committed an Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan of 232.209 billion yen for nine projects across various states in the country. In this regard, Vikas Sheel, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and Suzuki Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan to India exchanged the notes on Tuesday. The projects which would get the financial assistance include North East Road Network Connectivity Improvement Project (Phase 3), North East Road Network Connectivity Improvement Project (Phase 7), Project for Promoting Start-up and Innovation in Telangana, Project for Promoting Sustainable Horticulture in Haryana and Dedicated Freight Corridor Project (Phase 1) among others.
“The road network connectivity projects aim to improve infrastructure development in India’s North East region, while the Chennai peripheral ring road project aims to alleviate traffic congestion and strengthen connections to the southern part of the state. The project in Nagaland will help develop tertiary level medical service delivery by developing a Medical College Hospital contributing towards universal health coverage,” Finance Ministry said in a release. The Ministry further said that a unique project in Telangana will help discover entrepreneurial skills with focus on women and rural population and support business expansion of MSMEs. “In Haryana, the project will promote sustainable horticulture and improve farmer’s income by promoting crop diversification and infrastructure development. The forestry project in Rajasthan will enhance ecosystem services through afforestation, forest and biodiversity conservation. In the mountainous state of Uttarakhand, the project aims to provide stable water supply to urban towns,” it said. The fifth tranche of the Dedicated Freight Corridor project will help in construction of new dedicated freight railway system and bring about modernisation of intermodal logistics system enabling handling of increased freight traffic. “Economic partnership, a key pillar of India-Japan relations, has steadily progressed in the last few years. Exchange of Notes for these important projects will further strengthen the Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan,” stated the Finance Ministry media release.