The lending support will go to key areas like transport, energy, urban development, agriculture natural resource management, finance and education. Prior to this, ADB has approved 159 loans (sovereign and non-sovereign) for India amounting to USD 24.12 billion. As one of the founder members of the lending agency, India`s association with the ADB dates back to 1966.
However, ADB`s lending operations in India commenced in 1986, and New Delhi just completed 25 years of its partnership with Manila headquartered bank. Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was on Saturday elected as Chairman of the ADB`s Board of Governors and the country will host the 46th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in New Delhi next year.
"During our exciting and challenging journey of economic growth, ADB has been a valued multilateral partner. I deem it an honour to host the next Annual Meeting...," Mukherjee said. ADB has 67 members, of which 48 are from Asia. The US and Japan are the largest shareholders of the bank while India is the fifth largest.