Photo exhibition held to commemorate 50 years of Japan's ODA

New Delhi, Jun 30 (UNI) The Japanese embassy here today organised a photo exhibition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans to India.

The photo exhibition, organised by the Japanese embassy here and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation to ''revisit the history of Japanese economic cooperation through ODA loans to India, will also be held in Mumbai, Kolkatta and Chennai.

It will be held in Mumbai from July 15-19, Kolkatta from July 28-August 3 and Chennai from August 19-23.

The first Japanese ODA loan was disbursed following the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's visit to India in 1957. This was the first Japanese ODA loan ever given to a foreign country.

Since then relations between India and Japan expanded and today India is the largest beneficiary of the Japanese ODA in the world, a statement issued by the Japanese embassy here said.

In 2007, the amount of Japanese ODA loans to India was a record 225,130 million Yen (2085 million US Dollars approximately) corresponding to the ever-increasing demand in India for infrastructure, transport, energy, water supply, sewage system and irrigation.

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