World Bank to provide Chennai with $150 million for Sustainable Urban Services Programme

CHENNAI: The World Bank is set to give $150 million loan as support to the Government of Tamil Nadu for its ‘Chennai City Partnership: Sustainable Urban Services Programme’. This programme aims to help strengthen institutions, improve financial health of service agencies, and drive material improvements in the quality of four key urban services that include sewerage, mobility, health, and solid waste management. The $150 million loan for Reconstruction and Development is a variable spread loan with final maturity of 16-and-a-half years, which will also include a grace period of five and a half years.

This programme and the funding by the World Bank will support the Government of Tamil Nadu in its efforts to transform the city and its services. Simultaneously, it will accelerate Chennai’s shift to lower carbon and more resilient growth trajectory. This will assist Government of Tamil Nadu, Greater Chennai Corporation, and other key service agencies in adopting new approaches to service delivery and in bringing renewed focus on results for citizens.

Despite being home to over 10.9 million people and being an economic powerhouse, Chennai has not been able to keep pace with growing demand for key services. The city also remains highly vulnerable to natural disasters, climate change.

Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director in India, said that this programme proclaims the start of their partnership with the city of Chennai where the World Bank with the Government of Tamil Nadu will together create a more climate-friendly, resilient and inclusive model for managing urban growth. “The experience emerging from this partnership can inform other Indian cities and, more broadly, India’s massive urban transition,” he added. Major components of the programme include water resource management (water supply and sewerage services), urban mobility, health services, and solid waste management.