ADB approves $631 million loan for Vizag-Chennai industrial corridor

Multilateral funding agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $631 million loan for building India’s first coastal industrial corridor between Visakhapatnam (Vizag) and Chennai.
The fund will help develop the first key 800-km section of the planned 2,500-km East Coast Economic Corridor.
Key Facts

  • The coastal industrial corridor is expected to boost development on eastern coast of India and enable seamless trade links with other parts of Southeast and South Asia.
  • The total cost of the project is 846 million dollars and work on it is expected to be over by 2031. The remaining 215 million dollars will be funded by Andhra Pradesh government.
  • The loan fund from ADB will help to build state-of-art industrial clusters, roads, efficient transport, reliable water and power supplies with skilled workforce and good business policies.
  • The new infrastructure will be built in the four main centres — Visakhapatnam, Amaravati, Kakinada and Yerpedu-Srikalahasti — along the corridor.
  • It will include 138 km of state highways and roads, 10 power substations, 488 km of drinking water pipeline, 47 km of storm drains, water treatment plants, and 281 km of power transmission and distribution lines.

About the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC)

  • The VCIC section of the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) connects four economic hubs and nine industrial clusters. It will be first industrial corridor developed along India’s coast.
  • The ECEC will extend from Kolkata (West Bengal) in the northeast of India to Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu) near the southern-most point of the country.

About Asian Development Bank (ADB)

  • The ADB is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966. It promotes social and economic development in Asia.
  • It is headquartered in Manila, Philippines. ADB now has 67 members, of which 48 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside.
  • The ADB has been modelled closely on the World Bank. It has similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members’ capital subscriptions.
  • As of 2014, Japan is the largest shareholder (capital subscription) of ADB having 15.7% shares. US holds 15.6%, China (6.5%), India (6.4%), and Australia (5.8%).

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