KERALA MONITOR.COM February 6, 2002

ADB renews commitment to India with new office building in New Delhi

Yashwant Sinha and ADB President Tadao
Chino inaugurated ADB's new office building.

 

NEW DELHI, INDIA (5 February 2002) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today
renewed its long-term partnership and commitment to India with the opening
of its new resident mission office in New Delhi. The Union Minister of
Finance of India, Yashwant Sinha and ADB President Tadao
Chino inaugurated ADB's new office building.

The new office, located in the institutional area of Chanakyapuri in New
Delhi will further enhance ADB's presence in the country and strengthen its
operational activities.

The India Resident Mission Office is the first office building owned by the
ADB outside its headquarters in Manila, Philippines. Designed by a local
firm of architects, the spacious three-story office building also includes
conference rooms and a library.

"The opening of this new office renews ADB's long-term partnership with
India. It will further strengthen our relations with the Government, other
donor agencies, the private sector, non-government organizations and civil
society," said Mr. Chino. He also said ADB will continue with its support
for state-focused operations in India.

ADB is a regional development bank with 59 members. Its overarching goal is
to reduce poverty by promoting economic and social progress in the
Asia-Pacific region. ADB's strengths lie in its work on policy and
institutional reforms, social development, environmental protection and
regional cooperation.

India is one of ADB's founding members and one of the largest borrowers.
The India Resident Mission established in 1992 is one of ADB's largest
missions. It is headed by a Country Director and has 27 staff, including 23
Indian nationals. In early 2001, ADB also established an Extended Mission
in Gandhinagar, Gujarat to expedite project coordination and implementation
of the emergency loan for Gujarat Earthquake Rehabilitation and
Reconstruction Project.

ADB's country strategy for India is designed to support efforts to promote
employment and reduce poverty through pro-poor sustainable economic growth,
and regional and sub-regional cooperation. These objectives are
to be achieved through improved public resource mobilization, urban
development and environmental improvement, housing, infrastructure
development with focus on public-private partnerships, financial sector
development and private sector investment. In the mid-1990s, ADB embarked
on a strategy to focus on selected states to bring about structural reforms
followed by sectoral reforms. Up to 50 percent of its annual lending to
India is now targeted for state-level operations.

The need for a new office emanated from ADB's growing involvement in India
and greater delegation of responsibilities by headquarters. ADB has
approved loans averaging over US$1 billion annually to India in the last
three years. In 2001, ADB approved a record US$1.5 billion loans to India.
This included an emergency loan of US$500 million to Gujarat for the
earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction project, reflecting ADB's
flexibility and responsiveness in times of crisis.

Since 1986, India has borrowed US$10.3 billion from ADB, and received
US$71.3 million in technical assistance in the areas of state-level public
resource management, energy, urban infrastructure, transport, finance,
environment and social development.