NEW DELHI, February 5, 2010 - A Loan Agreement amounting to US$ 105 million equivalent for the Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) was signed today by the representatives of the Government of India, the state governments of Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and the World Bank.
Mr Anup K. Pujari, Joint Secretary, Government of India signed on behalf of the government and Mr Roberto Zagha, Country Director for India signed on behalf of the World Bank.
Mr Shyam Sunder Bajaj, Special Secretary, Housing & Environment Department, Chhattisgarh, Mr S.M. Sonad, Deputy Secretary, Karnataka Urban Development Department, Mr Vivek Shrotriya, Joint Collector, Indore, Madhya Pradesh and Mr Manu Kumar Srivastava, Secretary Urban Development Department, Maharashtra signed on behalf of the state governments.
“India’s own transport policy puts forward a vision for urban transport that focuses on people, not vehicles, emphasizes livability, and facilitates urban growth,” said Roberto Zagha, World Bank Country Director for India. “The main goal of SUTP is to support the achievement of that vision by helping create a successful project that can spur a shift toward sustainable urban transport policies and programs at the state and local level.”
The Global Environment Facility - Sustainable Urban Transport Project (GEF-SUTP) focuses on sustainable urban transport solutions - efficient movement of people resulting in significant environmental benefits and better living environs - for rapidly growing Indian cities. It emphasizes the key principles of the very forward looking National Urban Transport Policy, i.e. priority to public transport and non-motorised (pedestrian and cycle) transport. The project is also supported by a US$ 20.5 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The GEF funds are largely being used for national and city level capacity building activities and the IBRD loan (US$105.23 mn) and counterpart funds are for implementing demonstration projects in 5 cities - Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Naya Raipur, Indore and Mysore. It is hoped that the project will create better urban transport project preparation and implementation capacities and catalyse many more sustainable public transport and NMT projects across the country. India is on a growth trajectory with growing urbanization and ideally placed to make urban transport interventions that are sustainable, unlike many other developed nations in the world.
The loan for SUTP from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a 30 year maturity including a 5-year grace period.
