Puducherry, Aug 8 (PTI) Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Friday announced that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has sanctioned a soft loan of Rs 4,250 crores to the territorial government for infrastructure development.
Addressing reporters at his office here, the CM said the ADB has sanctioned the amount under its soft loan scheme. The loan would involve payment of interest ranging from three to four per cent and is repayable in 50 years.
Rangasamy said the funds would be used for various projects, including building a desalination plant to ensure adequate and uninterrupted drinking water supply, construction of bed dams across Pennayar and Sankarabarani rivers, and laying of underground drainage pipelines and widening of roads at various points to ease traffic flow.
The Chief Minister also said the central government has sanctioned Rs 129.56 crores under its scheme for 'Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment' (SASCI) out of Rs 211 crores sought by the Puducherry government.
According to Rangasamy, 14 projects would be taken up and completed by March 2026. The projects would be implemented by the PWD, Electricity and Local Administration Departments to take up construction of bridges among other infrastructures in the Union Territory.
PWD Minister of Puducherry K Lakshminarayanan said that this amount was sanctioned outside the budget allocations.