ADB India Agreement for Preparation of Road Upgradation Project in Sikkim

NEW DELHI: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government on Thursday signed a $2.5 million project readiness financing (PRF) loan to support project preparation and design activities to upgrade major district roads in Sikkim.

The project will help improve connectivity to important towns, rural areas, and pilgrimage and tourist destinations in the northeastern state.

The signatories to the PRF for the proposed Sikkim Major District Road Upgradation Project were Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance, who signed for the government, and Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB's India Resident Mission who signed for ADB.

After signing the loan agreement, Mishra said that the PRF will support the state government's priority in improving road connectivity in the hill state through planning and designing of the major district and other roads and bup-gradationridges that will help boost the state's economy and improve accessibility for people in remote villages. "The PRF project aims to ensure implementation readiness through feasibility studies, preparing detailed engineering designs of selected subprojects and building capacity of state agencies so that the ensuing project gets completed on time," said Konishi.

"It will also help incorporate elements of road safety, maintenance, and climate adaptation and mitigation in the ensuing project for the long-term sustainability of created assets," Konishi added.

Sikkim's road network requires upgradation to all-weather roads as frequent landslides and erosion damage roads and disrupt intra-state connectivity. The PRF will help the state upgrade identified major district and other roads to improve linkages to the national and state highway network connecting important towns and commercial centres.

Some of the priority roads identified for upgradation are included in the state's master plan for transport management that was formulated with ADB technical assistance in 2012. The ADB-funded North Eastern State Roads Investment Program launched in 2011 had earlier supported road improvements in Sikkim. (IANS)

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