ADB, JICA, others to announce financial support for rebuilding Kerala post floods

The World Bank has already signed an agreement with the Central and the state governments on their financial support on June 28.
Asian Development Bank  (File Photo | Reuters)
Asian Development Bank (File Photo | Reuters)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The International funding agencies including ADB, JICA and other agencies will announce the support they will provide to the state post-flood at the ‘Development partners conclave’ to be held on Monday.

The World Bank has already signed an agreement with the Central and the state governments on their financial support on June 28.

The loan agreement of $250 Million was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Manoj Joshi, Secretary Finance, Government of Kerala and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank, India.

A highly placed source in the government told Express that agencies like Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), French Development Agency (AFD) will be announcing their support in the conclave which will begin at 3 pm.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will be participating in the conclave along with a battery of senior officials from the state.

It is to be noted that while the Untied Nations document on Post Disaster Need Assesment (PDNA) worked out figures to the tune of Rs 31,000 crore for a period of five to six years for the post-flood rehabilitation and rebuilding of the state, the Rebuild Kerala Development Programme (RKDP) has pegged the amount at Rs 36,000 crore. 

However a source told Express that the amount to be committed by the financial agencies will be much less than the figures arrived by the RKDP.

This is owing to the fact that figures presented by the RKDP is for a period of five to six years while the commitment will be on an yearly or biannual basis.

A meeting held at India headquarters of World Bank in New Delhi on July 3 had in detail studied the intricacies of the funding from various agencies.

The meeting was attended by officials from World Bank, ADB, JICA, UNDP, UNICEF, KFW and other agencies. Kerala side was represented by Dr V Venu, CEO, Rebuild Kerala Initiative and Additional Chief Secretary, Water resources Dr.Vishwas Mehta.

A senior officer of the state government, who was party to the deliberations, said: “State government and the international funding agencies have already finalised the formalities of the support to be extended by these agencies.

"The deliberations were conducted earlier and the announcement will be made at the conclave.”

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