The Union government and the Asian Development Bank on Thursday signed a deal for a $451 million loan to improve power connectivity along the Chennai–Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor. The deal was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, additional secretary, department of economic affairs at the finance ministry and Kenichi Yokoyama, head of ADB’s India mission.
The funds will be used to set up an extra-high-voltage transmission link between Coimbatore and Virudhunagar to cater to the additional capacity of 9,000 MW. The state government is looking to build quality power infrastructure for boosting economic growth. It is developing the Chennai–Tiruchirappalli area of CKIC as a manufacturing hub while looking to develop the Madurai–Thoothukudi area for the generation of renewable energy.
“The project will help the government of Tamil Nadu meet the increasing demand for power supply from industry and commercial enterprises,” Mr Khare said. It will help transmission of power from new generation facilities in the southern CKIC to industrial areas in the northern region, he said. The Chennai–Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor is part of East Coast Economic Corridor. ADB had partnered with the government for developing ECEC.
The loan will help TANTRANSCO, the state transmission PSU, build operational capacity. It will also facilitate better work environment for women workers and improve the monitoring system for social and environmental impact. ADB made commitments of new loans and grants to the tune of $21.6 billion in 2018. The bank is owned by its 68 members.