On January 20, 2022, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and the PM of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth virtually inaugurated the India-assisted social housing units project in Mauritius.
- The projects are being implemented as part of the development partnership between India and Mauritius.
- Both the PMs have also virtually participated in the foundation stone laying ceremony of two other projects such as the construction of a state-of-the-art Civil Service College, that will help in skilling government officers, and the 8 Mega Watt (MW) Solar PV Farm project.
Background:
i.The Government of India in May 2016 had extended a grant of USD 353 million to the Government of Mauritius as Special Economic Package (SEP) to execute 5 priority projects identified by the Government of Mauritius, among others.
ii.The 5 projects include – the Metro Express Project, New ENT Hospital (both inaugurated in 2019), Supreme Court Building (inaugurated in 2020), Supply of Digital Tablets to Primary School Children, and the Social Housing Project.
iii.With the current inauguration of the Social Housing Project, all the high profile projects under the SEP have been implemented.
Facts about the Projects:
i.Two bilateral pacts were exchanged during the ceremony which includes an agreement for the extension of USD 190 million Line of Credit from the Indian to the Mauritian government for the Metro Express project and other infrastructure projects, and an MoU on the implementation of small development projects.
- The Mauritius government has decided to name one of the major metro stations as the ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ station.
ii.The Social Housing Units project:
- The total cost of the project is $44.995 million including grant assistance of $20 million and Line of Credit support of $25 million.
- The project comprises 956 housing units with associated infrastructure such as sewerage treatment plants, leeching field and playground.
iii.The 8 MW Solar PV Farm project: It involves the installation of 25,000 PV cells to generate approximately 14 GWh of green energy annually, to electrify about 10,000 Mauritian households with an estimated avoidance of 13,000 tonnes of CO 2 emissions every year, helping Mauritius mitigate the effects of climate change.
iv.The Civil Service College project: It is located in Reduit, and financed through grant support of USD 4.74 million, under an MoU signed in 2017.
Key Highlights:
i.Modi has highlighted India’s focus on innovative approaches to civil-service capacity building under our Mission Karmyogi.
ii.Modi also recalled the One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative that he put forth at the First Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in October 2018.
iii.Under India’s Vaccine Maitri programme, Mauritius was one of the first countries where India was able to send COVID-19 vaccines.
iv.India honoured the former Mauritian PM Anerood Jugnauth with the Padma Vibhushan award in 2020.
Recent Related News:
On December 23, 2021, the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda launched several ambitious projects of TRIFED (Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India) including the launch of the TRIFED VanDhan Chronicle, 14 Honey Farmer Producer Organizations and an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) to boost Tribal Samvaad Network.
About Mauritius:
Capital– Port Louis
Currency– Mauritian rupee
