By ANI

NEW DELHI: India will receive loan to the tune of Rs 6668.46 crore from Japan for various development projects.

The loan will used to develop phase two of the Chennai metro project, a dairy development project and a programme for Japan-India cooperative actions towards Sustainable Development Goals in India.

Ambassador of Japan to India Kenji Hiramatsu and Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India Dr.C.S. Mohapatra on Friday signed and exchanged notes here concerning the provision of three yen loan projects (total loan provision of up to JPY 105.497 billion, approximately INR 6,668.465 crore).

The first loan is for construction of a subway system in Chennai. It is expected that approximately 330 thousand people will use the 3rd line between Madhavaram Milk Colony Station and Sholinganallur Station (about 36.0 km) and it will reduce the traveling time between the two stations from the current two hours and fourteen minutes by automobile, to one hour and 8 minutes by 2029 (in 2 years after completion).

It is also expected that approximately 760 thousand people will use the 5th line between Madhavaram Milk Colony Station and Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus Station (about 16.0 km) and it will reduce the traveling time between the two stations from the current 46 minutes by automobile, to 30 minutes.

This project is thus expected to contribute to the development of the regional economy and the improvement of the urban environment by easing traffic congestion.

The second loan is for the improvement of income levels of dairy farmers in India. This project is to provide a loan to the Government of India for the enhancement of farmers' access to the modern distribution network, improvement of dairy machinery and distribution infrastructure, capacity building of dairy cooperatives in the several eligible states under the agreement between JICA, National Dairy Development Board, and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare.

It is expected that 150 thousand dairy farmers will newly join dairy cooperatives, and the farmers' market will expand with modernized dairy product value chain. This project is thus expected to improve the income levels of dairy farmers by increasing the sales of milk and dairy products.

The third loan is for the institution building and policy development related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in India This program is to contribute to achieving SDGs by 2030 through providing a loan for strengthening the implementation system and the policy framework related to SDGs in India, with a view to promoting SDGs in social development sector.

For example, this program supports social sector development such as the enhancement of the ratio of pregnant women who have access to safe medical check-up from 64 per cent in 2016 to 75 per cent in 2019, and the ratio of population who are provided with enough amount of safe drinking water from 82 percent in 2016 to 90 percent in 2019 in least developed regions.

Japanese ODA Loan commitment to India reached JPY 421.955 billion, approximately INR 26,671.776 crore and the all-time-high in FY2018.

India is the largest recipient country of Japanese ODA Loan in FY2018 as well as in FY2017 on the commission basis.