The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will extend support to make state's economy effective and competitive. Mio Oka, Country Director of ADB leading the India Resident Mission said that considering the state's impressive performance and its growing economy over the last two and a half decades, ADB will continue partnerships in new areas of development with Madhya Pradesh. Oka was addressing a workshop held on Tuesday to commemorate 25 years of partnership between ADB and Madhya Pradesh in different spheres of development. It is noteworthy that with ADB's financial assistance, significant development projects have been effectively implemented over these 25 years. The workshop aimed at outlining areas of mutual cooperation for development and planning future strategies, senior officials from various ADB and Madhya Pradesh government projects were present. Oka observed that Madhya Pradesh has positively utilized ADB's financial support for implementation of development projects in the public interest.

 

This partnership will continue in the future focussing on new areas for collaboration emerging, including agribusiness, quality improvement in school education, health services enhancement, skills development for human resources, and strengthening social infrastructure and management. Notablty, the partnership between Madhya Pradesh and ADB began in 1999. The ADB has provided $6 billion US dollar supporting key sectors like energy, transport, urban development, agriculture, livelihood creation, water management, and irrigation management. Assistance of $3 billion in road construction and improvement have led to enhancement of 23,000 kilometers roads. In the energy sector, ADB has provided assistance of $1.72 billion, and $800 million has been contributed to the development of 140 cities, aiding improvements in water supply, sewage, sanitation, rainwater drainage, and solid waste management. Additionally, ADB has contributed $375 million for irrigation of over 125,000 hectares. For enhancing the technical skills of youth, ADB has provided $150 million for the Global Skill Park in Bhopal. ADB is also studying how to strengthen the state’s economy by developing appropriate policies and increasing investments to make it more competitive. Based on this study, ADB will explore potential collaborations in new areas with state officials. ADB has provided substantial support in improving the energy sector, increasing energy capacity. ADB has been collaborating in this sector since 2007, and by 2012, there was a reduction in transmission losses. At present, the State has uninterrupted electricity supply. ADB is now also stepping forward to support the enhancement of the green economy to promote renewable energy conservation and utilization, and to mitigate the threats of climate change.

 

In the transport sector, ADB is developing roads with a financial support of $2.16 billion for road repairs and improvements. ADB aims to continue supporting the operation of assets built over the last 25 years due to its long-term partnership with the state. Additionally, ADB will assist Madhya Pradesh in preparing human resources as per future needs, including new areas in school education, technical education, vocational training, and nursing training. The workshop was attended by Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India; Sanjay Dubey, Additional Chief Secretary of General Administration; Ashok Barnawal, Additional Chief Secretary, Forest and Manish Rastogi, Principal Secretary of Finance.