HYDERABAD: In a boost to the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed $375 million in loans and grants to develop the 800-km Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor in the first phase.
The 2,500-km-long ECEC is seen as an important initiative to develop India’s east coastline and also contribute for the industrial growth in the eastern parts of India along the coastline. GoI has also been betting big on the corridor to integrate the Indian economy with global production networks in eastern Asia.
ADB approved $631 million in loans and grants to develop the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor in September 2016. Following which the ADB and GoI signed for loan approval on February 23. ADB’s approved loan comprises a $500-million multi-tranche facility to build key infrastructure in the four main centres along the corridor – Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Amaravati, and Yerpedu-Srikalahasti in Andhra Pradesh.
The approval for the first tranche of $245 million was signed on Tuesday, which will be used to finance sub-projects to develop internal infrastructure in two of the four nodes of the corridor — Visakhapatnam and Yerpedu –Srikalahasti.
“By 2025, annual industrial output along the corridor will increase fourfold to $64 billion from about $16 billion in 2015, if investment opportunities are maximised,” said L B Sondjaja, deputy country director of ADB’s India Resident Mission.