On April 29, 2020, Asian Development Bank (ADB), is a regional development bank, has approved a loan worth of $346 million (around Rs 2,616 crore) for the government of Maharashtra to provide reliable power connection in rural areas of the state, where the labour force is mostly engaged in agriculture and related activities.

Key Points:

• The loan, which is ADB’s first results-based lending (RBL) modality in South Asia’s energy sector, will be sanctioned as part of the Maharashtra Rural Connectivity Improvement Project & Maharashtra Agribusiness Network Project. 
• It will support the state’s high voltage distribution system (HVDS) program, in which some 46,800km of high voltage 11 kilovolts (kV) energy distribution systems will be installed and 121 substations of 33/11 kV modernized by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL).
• Maharashtra Energy Department and MSEDCL will implement this project, which will get a counterpart funding of $357.1 million (part of the $703.1 million total costs of the project) by Maharashtra in association with MSEDCL.
• In addition to the abovesaid amount, the ADB will also provide $1 million as technical assistance.

About Asian Development Bank (ADB):

• Headquarters– Mandaluyong, Philippines
• Membership– 68 countries
• President– Masatsugu Asakawa

About Maharashtra:

• Capital– Mumbai
• Governor– Bhagat Singh Koshyari
• Chief Minister– Uddhav Thackeray
• Flower– Jarul
• Tree– Mango Tree