Bihar may receive Rs 800 crores credit from World Bank

Patna, Dec 14 (UNI) The World Bank is likely to extend a credit facilty of Rs 800 crores to the Bihar government by March 2008 for improvement of its sagging infrastructure, Deputy Chief Minister- cum-Finance Minister Sushil Kumar Modi informed today.

Presenting the second supplementary budget in the state Assembly here, Mr Modi said the final decision, however, would be taken during the Bank's next Board meeting later this month.

Stating that the proposed credit facility, to be available under the World Bank's International Development Policy Loan (IDPL), would be given at a very low interest rate of only two per cent per annum under a long term repayment schedule of 25 years, Mr Modi said the amount was expected to come before the end of the current fiscal.

Describing the scheduled board meeting of the Bank as a 'routine affair' as all possible hiccups had already been addressed by the government to the satisfaction of the premier bank, Mr Modi said the entire sum would be used for improvement of major infrastructural facilities to attract country's industrial giants to Bihar.

Captains of a number of Indian industries, including those from the Reliance, Tatas and the Hindustan Petroleums, had evinced keen interest in the ongoing industrial rejuvenation programmes of the state and assured the government of making substantial investment if infrastructural facilities like power and good communication network were made available, the Deputy Chief Minister told members amid thunderous applause from the treasury benches.

Incidentally, the proposed World Bank loan would not only be the first of its kind in the state, but also be maximum for developmental purposes.

UNI