WB clears USD 250 million for Kerala

The first tranche of USD250 million of the USD500 million fund set aside by the World Bank for the Resilient Kerala Programme (RKP) to help improve the state's resilience against natural disasters and climate change has been cleared. Kerala had become the first Indian state to get this fund, said Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank, India.

"The future of India is in the states and hence we decided to invest in state schemes besides concentrating on citizencentric programmes. That's what we have done in the RKP," said Ahmad.

Along with his team, Ahmad took part in the Development Parties Conclave, organised by the Kerala government with participation of leading international agencies, like World Bank, Asian Development Bank, JAICA and UNDP, to discuss ways to help the state rebuild after last year's floods.

Elaborating on the bank's initiatives, he said they would invest USD250 million in the state for specific programmes, like improving the Ariver basin planning, sustainable agriculture, besides improving resilience of the core road network.

"We will be providing technical assistance to the state for these programmes. Besides this, we have an urban service project. Also, the new programmes in the pipeline would look into sanitation and solid waste management," Ahmad said.