Rajasthan to get $500-million ADB loan to improve urban services

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday approved of two loans amounting to half a billion dollars, to help Rajasthan Government upgrade water and sewerage facilities and manage essential urban services.

“For the first time in India, we have coupled a policy loan to support urban sector reforms with a project loan for infrastructure development to ensure that improvements to urban services like water and wastewater can be maintained over the long term,” said Fei Yue, Director (South Asia Urban and Water Division), ADB.

“Reliable urban services will improve health, the quality of life and ultimately, support economic growth in India’s towns and cities,” he added.

A $250-million policy loan will be used to finance the creation of a new State body to oversee urban services development and an independent utility to oversee water and wastewater operations in Jaipur.

Planned reforms include delegating such operations to municipal bodies and the rationalization of water tariffs and property tax to ensure a sustainable revenue stream for the institutions.

The other $250-million project loan will support water system improvements in five cities — Hanumangarh, Jhunjhunu, Pali, Sri Ganganagar, and Tonk.

Upgrades will include nearly 200,000 new house connections with proper metering to cut losses. Around a third of the connections will be in low-income households.

Additionally, the plan envisages upgrades in sewer pipelines and treatment plants in the five cities along with Bhilwara.

Wastewater recycling schemes are to be implemented and sludge used to generate electricity along with 24 hours water supply. The programme is expected to be completed by end-2019.

A further $1-million grant from ADB’s Technical Assistance Special Fund will finance capacity building in State institutions while an additional $2-million grant from the Sanitation Financing Partnership Trust Fund, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will be used to finance sanitation improvements in non-sewer areas for low-income households in two of the cities.