THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After floods damaged a large section of roads in the coastal state of Kerala, the German Development Bank (KfW) signed an agreement with the Government of Kerala to provide financial assistance of Rs 1400 crore for reconstructing these roads. Apart from this, the bank has also agreed to provide a Rs 25 crore grant for institutional capacity building.
31 roads are to be reconstructed under the project and will cost a total of Rs 1800 crore. The 800 km long roads in total will be repaired by the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) within a span of five years. The project is planned to start in May next year. A development policy loan of $250 million has also been approved by the World Bank for the ‘Rebuild Kerala’ Initiative.
The aid by the bank will be bill based, unlike the World Bank aid. KfW will place their officials in KSTP who will be responsible for monitoring the entire process. Payments will be based on their reports and sanctions. The Kerala government officials are also negotiating with ADB for loans towards water supply projects.