Japan commits Rs8,632 crore ODA loans to 7 projects in India

Japan today announced a 155.549 billion yen (about Rs8,632 crore) loan as part of the second batch of FY10 Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) overseas development assistance (ODA) loan package for India, making India the highest recipient of ODA loans till date.

The loans, notes for which were exchanged today, will fund seven major and minor projects in the infrastructure sector in India. These include:

A Rs1.031.74 crore loan to fund a high voltage distribution system project in Andhra Pradesh and a Rs1,024.36 crore loan for a transmission system modernisation project in Madhya Pradesh;

A Rs1,665 crore loan to an energy saving project for micro, small and medium enterprises;

A Rs1,665 crore loan to new and renewable energy development project;
 
A Rs1,100.67 crore loan to the Bangalore Metro Rail Project (Phase II) under the urban transport sector;

A Rs1,271.11 crore loan for Bihar National Highway Improvement Project; and
 
A Rs874.06 crore loan for Rajasthan Forestry and Biodiversity Project (Phase -2).
With today's announcement, the cumulative commitment of ODA from Japan has reached JPY 3320.369 billion (Rs1,84,260 crore), an official release said.

While India and Japan have had a long and fruitful history of bilateral development cooperation since 1958,  relations between the two countries have steadily been progressing over the past few years under the India-Japan Global Partnership.