The Asian Development Bank – ADB and the Indian government signed a loan of US$231 million to increase the power generation capacity of Assam by building a 120-megawatt hydroelectric power plant.
Highlights:
♦ This is the third loan under the ongoing Assam State Power Industry Investment Plan, which was approved by the ADB Board of Directors in July 2014.
♦ The plan includes the first two parts, focusing on increasing the capacity and efficiency of the energy production and distribution system in Assam to improve the power services provided to end users.
♦ The project promotes an increase in the supply of affordable clean electricity, which will help improve living conditions in the state, promote business expansion and increase employment opportunities in the state, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
♦ The project is an upstream project on the Kobili River, which will help increase clean energy supply by 469 gigawatt hours (GWh) by 2025 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 360,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
♦ The US$2 million grant from Japan’s Poverty Alleviation Fund (JFPR) is also related to the equipment and consulting services.
Asian Development Bank (ADB):
Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank which is established on December 19, 1966. Its headquarters are located in Mandaluyong, Ortigas Center, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank promotes social & economic development in Asia. It is modeled on the World Bank and has a similar weighted voting system in which votes are distributed in proportion to the capital subscriptions of members. As of December 31, 2018, Japan and the United States each held the largest proportion of shares, which was 15.571%. China accounted for 6.429%, India accounted for 6.317%, and Australia accounted for 5.773%.
