THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: German Development Bank (KfW) has agreed to provide Rs 1,400 crore for reconstructing roads damaged in the flood. Representatives of the bank signed an agreement with the government on Wednesday. It is also providing a Rs 25-crore grant for institutional capacity building.
The project to reconstruct 31 roads is expected to cost Rs 1,800 crore. Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) will reconstruct 800 kilometres of roads in five years. The project is expected to start by May 2020. The central government and KfW entered into an agreement based on the project report submitted by the state on October 30. World Bank has also agreed to provide $250 million development policy loan for the Rebuild Kerala initiative.
Unlike the World Bank aid, KfW payments are bill based. KfW will place their consultants in KSTP to monitor the projects. Payments will be based on their monitoring and sanction. Kerala government officials are also negotiating with ADB for loans towards water supply projects. Rebuild Kerala Initiative (RKI) is the agency set up in the wake of floods to oversee the future development of the state