Source: PIB
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India in the year 2017 have signed $375 million in loans and grants to develop 800-kilometer Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor, which is the First Phase of a planned 2,500–kilometer long East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC).
About the corridor
- The ECEC, which runs along the entire east coast from Kolkata to Kanyakumari, is a multimodal, regional maritime corridor that can play a vital role in unifying the large domestic market, as well as integrating the Indian economy with the dynamic global value chains of Southeast and East Asia.
- Aside from an ambitious infrastructure program, the ECEC involves developing skills, and creating an attractive regulatory environment, bringing in new investments, and nurturing existing businesses to grow and innovate, and create much-needed jobs.
- Phase 1 of the ECEC is the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) which covers 11 districts in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Role of ADB
- ADB helped prepare the Conceptual Development Plan (CDP) and Regional Perspective Plan (RPP) for VCIC, which served as the bases for the Visakhapatnam–Chennai Industrial Corridor Development Program, which was approved by the ADB Board in September 2016.
- The Program comprises a multi-tranche financing facility (MFF), a grant, and a policy-based loan (PBL) for a total investment amount of $631 million.
- ADB’s indicative lending pipeline for 2017–2019 to support economic corridor development in South Asia includes:
- The VCIC Development Program MFF Tranche 2 in India in 2018, with an ADB loan: $250 million; and
- Regional Urban Development Project in Nepal in 2017, with an ADB loan: $150 million.
Background
Earlier, ADB has developed a South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation(SASEC) Operational Plan (OP) 2016-2025 which identifies promoting economic corridor development (ECD) as of one its key strategic focus areas. The SASEC OP, adopted by the SASEC member countries in June 2016, is the SASEC program’s first comprehensive long-term plan to promote greater economic cooperation among its member countries, bringing regional cooperation to a higher level with the aim of extending physical and economic linkages not only within SASEC but also with East and Southeast Asia.
Significance of the corridor
- Economic Corridor Development contributes to and stimulates economic development along the route.
- The economic corridor approach involves leveraging infrastructure connectivity and developing urban areas as growth centers and gateways, to unlock the full potential of markets.
- The MFF and grant will support priority infrastructure investments in the VCIC region and the PBL will support policy reforms and institutional development in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
