INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (IDA) APPROVED CREDIT GRANT FOR KERALA WATER PROJECT

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (IDA) APPROVED CREDIT GRANT FOR KERALA WATER PROJECT

International Development Association (IDA), an arm of the World Bank, has approved a credit grant of $155.3 million (Rs.776.5 crore) to the Kerala government for developing water supply and sanitation services in villages of the state.The grant, according to IDA, will fund the second edition of the state government's rural water supply and sanitation project (KRWSS) -- Jalanidhi II."It (project) will provide financial and technical assistance for setting up rural water supply schemes in about 200 gram panchayats (GPs) in eight selected districts of the state," IDA said in a statement."Some 290,000 households are likely to directly benefit from the water supply investments and some 690,000 from sanitation interventions under the project."Meanwhile, the central government said it will also support the project.

"The government of India is happy to support government of Kerala improve its institutional capacity to facilitate and scale up community-driven, decentralised RWSS service delivery across the state," said Venu Rajamony, joint secretary, economic affairs, ministry of finance.The project has three main components -- institutional building, technical assistance and infrastructure development. The IDA credit has a maturity of 25 years, including a 5-year grace period.

                                                                               Prof. John Kurakar