The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has agreed to provide a loan of $400m to the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to provide safe drinking water through a piped water supply, to improve service levels and strengthen sustainable service delivery.
Image: AIIB to provide loan to Andhra Pradesh. Photo: Courtesy of Yucel Tellici/FreeImages.com
This project is expected to have a positive impact on women and girls in affected communities. Hauling water from communal taps is mainly carried out by women and girls and requires a significant amount of time that could otherwise be spent on more productive activities, such as education. Since women and girls have more frequent contact with water that may be contaminated, this project will also reduce health risks and health expenditures for women in Andhra Pradesh.
AIIB vice president and chief investment officer D. J. Pandian said: “Extending piped water supply is a major development priority of the Government of India. We are supplementing the ongoing and proposed programs locally in Andhra Pradesh and are directly contributing to India’s achievements under Sustainable Development Goal 6 to ensure access to water and sanitation for all.”
The project is part of an integrated approach to water and sanitation improvement in India. Funding will come from AIIB as well as from programs by the Government of India and the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
The project components include:
Water Supply: The construction of water supply systems in the project’s urban local bodies (ULBs), including intakes at the raw water source, raw water transmission mains, water treatment plants, clear water transmission mains, treated water storage, distribution networks and household service connections with meters.
Sanitation and Drainage Pilots in five selected ULBs: Pilot Waste Water Treatment Plants for graywater treatment will be financed alongside critical drainage improvements by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
Institutional component: Capacity building to strengthen (i) overall project management and supervision and (ii) the institutional capacity in the ULBs in municipal services delivery and management, including financial, environmental and social aspects.
AIIB investment operations director general Supee Teravaninthorn said: “This project will increase access to safe drinking water and support the Government of Andhra Pradesh in addressing water supply and sanitation.
“The project will also strengthen AIIB’s capacity to finance other broad-based water supply projects, which are in high demand in other areas of India and in the region.”
Source: Company Press Release