France, Germany to loan €100mn for India's urban infrastructure mission
France and Germany plan to provide a loan of €100 million (nearly Rs. 920 crore) to support India's urban infrastructure initiative, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0. Talks are set to begin soon, with the signing expected in February. This partnership comes after their recent participation in the City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS) 2.0 program where both nations contributed €100 million each.
AMRUT 2.0's goals and investment opportunities
AMRUT 2.0, launched in October 2021 for five years (FY22 to FY26), seeks to provide universal coverage of sewerage and septage management systems in 500 cities. Currently, there are investment opportunities worth $7.5 billion under the infrastructure mission. By FY23-end, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had approved State Water Action Plans (SWAP) for 6,527 projects costing Rs. 1.29 lakh crore. States and union territories have approved detailed project reports for 2,058 plans worth Rs. 36,481.47 crore.
France and Germany have funded India's urban transformation projects before
Both France and Germany have funded several urban transformation projects in India. France's AFD bank joined the CITIIS 1.0 program and provided expertise for the Smart Cities Mission in Nagpur, Pondicherry and Chandigarh. It has financed metro projects in cities like Bengaluru, Pune, Surat, and Kochi as well. Germany's KfW bank has also invested in metro projects across the country. It has provided a loan for the expansion of Bengaluru's suburban rail system.
