On December 16, 2020, a loan agreement was inked between Government of India (GoI) and New Development Bank (NDB) under which the latter will lend $1,000 million ($1 billion) for supporting the former’s economic recovery from COVID-19. The loan has a tenor of 30 years, including a 5-year grace period.
- The agreement was signed by Baldeo Purushartha, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Xian Zhu, Vice President, Chief Operations Officer (COO) on behalf of the NDB.
Key Features of Agreement:
–The funding is a part of NDB’s fast-track emergency response to COVID-19.
–As a part of agreement, NDB will support the creation of rural infrastructure related to natural resource management (NRM) and rural employment generation under Government of India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) particularly for migrant population.
Recent Related News:
i.On November 19, 2020, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Govt of India, National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC) and NDB signed a loan agreement for lending USD 500 Million (~ INR 3708 Crores) for the ‘Delhi- Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Project (RRTS)’ in the National Capital Region (NCR).
ii.On September 7, 2020 Himachal Pradesh and World Bank (WB) signed a $82 million (approximately Rs. 600 Crores) loan deal to strengthen its transport and road safety institutions by improving the condition, safety, resilience, and engineering standards of the state’s road network.
About New Development Bank (NDB):
Establishment– 2014
President – Marcos Prado Troyjo
Headquarters – Shanghai, China
Former Name– BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa) Development Bank
