INDIA THE HIGHEST RECIPIENT OF ODA FROM JAPAN

(Guest)

Japan provides Rs. 7158 crore ODA loan to India

INDIA THE HIGHEST RECIPIENT OF ODA FROM JAPAN

Government of India and Japan exchanged notes for the second batch of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) FY 2008 ODA loan package, here today. The Notes were exchanged between Shri Kumar Sanjay Krishna, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Mr. Masashi Mizukami, Minister Charge D’Affairs, Embassy of Japan, New Delhi on behalf of their respective countries. Through this Exchange of Notes Japan has committed an amount of Yen 137.028 billion (Rs. 7158.32 crore) to fund the following 4 projects :-

Sl. No.	Name of the Project	Sector	Project outline/objective	Loan amount
				JPY billion	Rs. Crore
1	Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System Project (Phase 2) (IV)	Urban Transport	So far Government of Japan have committed a total of Yen 341.087 billion (including the current tranche) for this projects in two phases. 1^st phase is completed and the 2^nd. Phase is going on. The objective of the project is to cope with the increase of traffic demand in Delhi by extending the mass rapid transportation system, thereby promoting regional economic development and improving urban environment, through mitigation of traffic jams and decrease of pollution caused by increasing motor vehicles.	77.753	4061.81
2	Guhawati Water Supply Project	Water Supply	The project envisages building up of waterworks facilities in the South Central and North Zones of Guwahati city, thereby achieving potable water supply with 100% coverage of the citizens within the above area and lead to upgrading citizens living standard.	29.453	1538.62
3	Hogenakkal Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation Project (Phase 2)	Water Supply	The objective of the project is to provide safe and reliable water supply in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri in the State of Tamil Nadu and provide fluorosis mitigation support in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts, thereby improving living conditions of the residents including the poor in the concerned areas. In the first phase, Government of Japan committed Yen 22.387 billion (Loan Agreement was signed on 10.3.2008). The current phase covers Hosur area.	17.095	893.04
4	Kerala Water Supply Project (III)	Water Supply	This project is being implemented with Japanese loan since 1997. So far Government of Japan have committed Yen 57.501 billion in three tranches (including the current tranche).The objective is to augment and rehabilitate water supply system of two urban regions, namely Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, and to construct water supply system of three rural regions, namely Pattuvam, Cherthala, and Meenad including their adjoining villages, in the State of Kerala to meet their water demand.	12.727	664.85
	Total			137.028	7158.32

With today’s Exchange of Notes the cumulative commitment of ODA from Japan has reached JPY 2898.59 billion (Rs.113209.77 Crores). In the 1^st batch of FY 2008 Government of Japan had committed JPY 99.019 billion (Rs.4555 Crore) for four projects namely Chennai Metro Project, Hyderabad Outer Ring Road Project (Phase 2), Capacity Development for Forest Management and Personnel Training Project and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Energy Saving Project. With the present commitment of JPY 137.028 billion (Rs.7158.32 Crores) in the second batch of FY 2008, total ODA loan commitment from Japan in FY 2008 comes to JPY 236.047 Billion (Rs.11,713.32 Crores). This is a 4.84% increase from last year’s ODA commitment which was JPY 225.13 billion. This is also the highest ever ODA loan commitment from Japan to India and India continues to be the highest recipient of ODA from Japan.

India and Japan have had a long and fruitful history of bilateral development cooperation since 1958. In the last few years relations between India and Japan have steadily progressed based on India – Japan Global Partnership. The visits of the Indian Prime Minister to Japan in 2006 and 2008 and the visit of Japanese Prime Minister to India in 2007 have further strengthened the India-Japan Global Partnership by adding greater substance to the bilateral relations based on India-Japan Global Partnership.