ADB to lend $ 9 bln over next 3 years

New Delhi, Dec 6 (UNI) Taking cue from the government's decision to give top priority to infrastructure development in the country, Asian Development Bank (ADB) today said it will lend nine billion dollars over the next three years for the growth of the sector.

''We will lend three billion dollars annually over the next three years for infrastructure development, starting from calendar 2008,'' ADB Managing Director General Rajat Nag told reporters on sidelines of 'Citi-FT Financial Education Summit 2007' here.

The country needs to invest 1.6 trillion dollars in infrastructure over the next 10 years. Seventy per cent of the funded amount will be invested in the infrastructure sector such as urban sanitation, power, transport, whereas the rest thirty per cent will be infused into rural financing, irrigation and water management, he added.

India's current lending stands at 2.5 billion dollars.

Lack of infrastructure, especially electricity, has eroded as much as two per cent of the country's growth, Mr Nag said adding that one-third of all investment in Indian infrastructure should be in power.

UNI