ADB lends for vaccines, health care in India
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been proactively increasing its engagement with India. A number of approval and agreement has come India’s way in recent months.
ADB has approved a $1.5 billion loan on 25 November 2021 to help the Government of India purchase safe and effective vaccines against the coronavirus disease. The project is financed through ADB’s $9 billion Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is expected to co-finance an additional $500 million for the project. In another development, the GoI has requested a regular loan of $500 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources to help finance the Strengthening Multimodal and Integrated Logistics Ecosystem (SMILE) program, a policybased loan (PBL) to support the government undertake wide-ranging reforms in the logistics sector in India.
The $1.5 billion loan will fund at least 667 million covid vaccine doses for an estimated 317 million people. It will support India’s National Deployment and Vaccination Plan, which aims to fully vaccinate 944.7 million people aged 18 years old and above, accounting for 68.9% of the population.
ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said: “Vaccines are critical in overcoming the inter twined health, social, and economic i mpacts of the pandemic, including rejuvenating economic activities, sustaining health services, restoration of livelihoods, and reopening of educational institutions, with renewed focus on social and human development priorities.”
An ongoing ADB technical assistance grant of $4 million, which includes $2 million support from ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, is helping strengthen India’s vaccine delivery system. This support is being provided in close collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The GoI and the ADB has signed a $300 million loan to strengthen and improve access to comprehensive primary health care in urban areas of 13 states that will benefit over 256 million urban dwellers including 51 million from slum areas. The programme is supported by a $2 million technical assistance grant from ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.
Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretar y, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, who signed the agreement, said that the programme supports the GoI’s key health initiatives - Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWC) and Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) by expanding availability and access to quality primary health care ser vices particularly for vulnerable populations in urban areas.
Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, said: “The program complements the government’s efforts to bridge the health care gaps by strengthening institutional capacity, operation, and management of urban health and wellness centres at the central, state, and municipal levels.”
Deliver y and health i nformation systems for primary health care will be upgraded through digital tools, quality assurance mechanisms, and engagement and partnership with the private sector.
$100 million ADB loan will boost agribiz network in Maharashtra
ADB is preparing an i nnovative Maharashtra Agribusiness Network (MAGNET) project. MAGNET will increase the i ncomes of small and marginal farmers in Maharashtra in line with the state government’s Vision 2030 by providing holistic agribusiness and value chain support in horticulture. ADB and the Government of India has signed a $100 million loan to promote agribusiness network to boost farm incomes and reduce food losses in the state of Maharashtra.
MAGNET will enhance (i) the capacities of agribusiness institutions and farmer producer organizations, (ii) access to finance of farmer producer organizations and value chain operators, and (iii) horticulture value chain infrastructure. The infrastructure will use designs that are responsive to gender and people with disabilities, and include climate adaptation and mitigation financing.
Despite the state producing 12% of India’s total fruit production and 7% of the country’s total vegetable production, farmers are unable to benefit fully from horticulture as they lack access to adequate post- har v e s t f aci l i t i e s , finance and equipment.
To help farmers including women overcome these challenges, the ADB and Maharashtra’s Department of Cooperation Marketing and Textiles is initiating the Maharashtra Agribusiness Network project to support the development of the horticulture sector.
According to Anoop Kumar, Principal Secretary Marketing, GoM, MAGNET is a project which is totally aligned with GoM’s long-term vision.. We want to extend agricultural credit to all the farmers, especially horticulture farmers, and create quality infrastructure for storage and processing.
According to Masahiro Nishimura, Senior Rural Development Specialist, South Asia, Department, ADB, MAGNET project directly targets 200 farmer producer organizations and 100 value chain operators to enhance their capacities and provide access to finance. The project will create 10,000 jobs benefitting women and vulnerable groups and increase farmer producer organizations’ annual profit by 10%. ADB will demonstrate value addition in exemplary rural and agricultural transformation in Maharashtra.
“The project supports agribusiness development in Maharashtra with holistic support to on-farm improvement in productivity, upgradation of post-harvest facilities,” said Rajat Kumar Mishra.