Two major multilateral development banks in Asia approves USD 100 million loan for India's power sector

BEIJING: China-led AIIB and multilateral funding agency ADB will co-finance a USD 100-million loan for India to improve power transmission network and expand the use of solar and wind energy, state media reported today.

The loan, approved by the Board of Directors of the Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), involves co-financing of USD 50 million from the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB), state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

This was the fourth co-financing made by the AIIB and the ADB, two major multilateral development banks in Asia.

India is the second largest shareholder in the AIIB.

The bank has an authorised capital of USD 100 billion.

China is the largest shareholder with 26.06 per cent voting shares in the bank. India is the second largest shareholder with 7.5 per cent followed by Russia 5.93 per cent and Germany with 4.5 per cent.

Since the AIIB commenced its operations in 2016, the two sides have co-financed four projects, including the M4 expressway in Pakistan with USD 100 million from each bank.

The second is a natural gas production and transmission project in Bangladesh, with an aggregate financing of USD 227 million, including USD 167 million from the AIIB.

In September, ADB chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada said the two banks could cooperate to meet Asia's huge infrastructure investment needs.

Sawada said that infrastructure needs in Asia and the Pacific stand at about USD 1.7 trillion per year, and there is a finance gap of USD 500 billion per year, the report added.