World Bank chief reviews MUTP
Mumbai,
Nov
2:
World
Bank
president
Robert
Zoellick,
who
is
on
his
three-day
visit
to
India,
has
reviewed
the
Mumbai
Urban
Transport
Project
(MUTP).
He visited the resettlement site of the MUTP, launched in 2002 with 1.2 billion dollars from the World Bank.
"Zoellick talked to all the stakeholders including the people who had been shifted, the commercial establishments that had been shifted, to the school children and to the teachers and everybody who are staying here. And he got a very positive response from the people," said Milind Mhaiskar, joint metropolitan commissioner and project director, MUTP.
Zoellick's visit, his first to India since assuming charge at the World Bank, is aimed at taking stock of World Bank-aided programmes in India.
Maharashtra
has
the
second
largest
World
Bank
programme
among
Indian
states.
The
World
Bank
is
providing
a
loan
of
542
million
dollars
for
the
MUTP
project
with
the
remaining
amount
to
be
covered
by
the
Indian
government.
The project will work on providing new rail lines, bigger bridges to ease the city's traffic congestion, besides providing better housing for millions of slum dwellers living in makeshift huts along railway lines and roads.
"We gave him a presentation about Mumbai and MUTP. What are its strength, weakness, and what are the directions of our efforts. He appreciated that to a great extent, the efforts that are being taken," said Mhaiskar.
Zoellick also met Reserve Bank of India Governor Y. Venugopal Reddy.
Zoellick will also meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi.
Since 1997, the bank's India strategy has focused on states attempting reforms, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
ANI>