Asian Development Bank has approved $631 million for building India’s first coastal industrial corridor between Visakhapatnam and Chennai - develop the first key 800-km section of the planned 2,500-km East Coast Economic Corridor.
ADB’s loans and grants comprise a $500 million two-tranche facility to build key infrastructure and a $125 million two-tranche loan to help in industrial policies and business promotion.
RELEVANCE :
to spur development on India’s eastern coast and enable seamless trade links with other parts of South and Southeast Asia.
to become a favoured investment destination
The Centre is keen to encourage manufacturing to create jobs for a labour force that is growing by about 12 million each year.
The total cost of the project is $846 million and work on it is expected to be over by 2031.
It is a regional development bank established on 22 August 1966 and is headquartered in Philippines.
Aim: to facilitate economic development of countries in Asia. It also aims for an Asia and Pacific free from poverty.
Membership:
The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, formerly known as the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East) and non-regional developed countries.
Currently, it has 67 members – of which 48 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside.
ADB was modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with member’s capital subscriptions.
Funding:
ADB raises funds through bond issues on the world’s capital markets.
ADB also rely on its members’ contributions, retained earnings from its lending operations, and the repayment of loans.
Japan holds the largest proportions of shares at 15.67%. The United States holds 15.56%, China holds 6.47%, India holds 6.36%, and Australia holds 5.81%.
Board of Governors:
It is the highest policy-making body of the bank.
It is composed of one representative from each member state.
The Board of Governors also elect the bank’s President who is the chairperson of the Board of Directors and manages ADB.
The Alternate Board of Governors are nominated by Board of Governors of ADB’s 67 to represent them at the Annual Meeting that meets formally once year to be held in a member country.
Loans:
It offers both Hard Loans and Soft loans.
The ADB offers “hard” loans from ordinary capital resources (OCR) on commercial terms, and the Asian Development Fund (ADF) affiliated with the ADB extends “soft” loans from special fund resources with concessional conditions.
ADB focuses on five core areas of operations: infrastructure; the environment, including climate change; regional cooperation and integration; finance sector development; and education.
