"Insufficient road connectivity into these villages limits their ability to access healthcare services, bring their goods to market and access transportation for their children to attend school. This project will construct and upgrade district and farm-to-market roads for the villagers and provide approaches to educational institutions, schools, and hospitals," AIIB said in a statement on Wednesday.
In the last one fortnight, this is the third major announcement from AIIB. On June 22, the AIIB signed a $160 million contract with India to partly fund "24X7 Power for All in Andhra Pradesh Project" while on June 16, it had announced its first equity investment of $150 million to attract much needed private investment capital for infrastructure projects in India.
"This project will directly contribute to the economic development of Gujarat, and India, by improving the mobility of the rural population," D.J. Pandian, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, AIIB, said.
The Beijing-based $100 billion AIIB began operations last year and expects to provide a loan to infrastructure projects worth $6-7 billion in the next five years. China is the largest shareholder in the bank, followed by India and Russia. Till now, AIIB has approved 16 projects in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Oman, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, and Myanmar worth $2.5 billion.
