ADB’s USD 132-mn loan to boost power sector in state

NEW DELHI, May 14: The Asian Development Bank on Friday said that it had committed the highest-ever annual lending to India since the start of its lending operations in 1986, a record USD 3.92 billion in sovereign loans for 13 projects to India, including USD 1.8 billion for COVID-19 related projects to support the government’s pandemic response and USD 132.8 million to improve power quality and upgrade the power distribution network in Meghalaya.
Meghalaya’s distribution networks are overloaded and substations in rural areas use outdated technology, resulting in high aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses.
The Centre and Meghalaya Government embarked on a joint initiative in 2015 called 24X7 Power for All Meghalaya to provide uninterrupted, quality, reliable, and affordable power supply to all electricity consumers.
By modernising and improving the distribution network, the project will improve the operational efficiency of the distribution system and the financial sustainability of distribution business in the state, ADB had said earlier.
The loan will be supplemented by a USD 2 million grant from ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. It will finance mini-grids that will improve power quality and support income generation, especially for women and other socially disadvantaged groups, using renewable energy sources in three villages and three schools.
The project will help develop a distribution sector road map and a financial road map for the Meghalaya Power Distribution Corporation Limited (MePDCL). These road maps will strengthen the capacity of MePDCL to operate and manage the distribution networks, ADB felt.
As part of the pandemic support to India, ADB said it has provided emergency assistance to contain the disease and establish social protection measures for relief to the poor and other vulnerable groups. ADB also approved financing to help the government improve equitable access to comprehensive primary health care in urban areas.