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AP to get Rs 9.5 billion British loan

Shireen in Hyderabad

The Department for International Development of the British government will be funding four new projects in Andhra Pradesh with an estimated assistance of Rs 9.56 billion.

Clare Short, England's minister for international development, said the four projects were: the Rs 6.58 billion Andhra Pradesh Urban Services for the Poor; the Rs 700 million Credit and Savings for Household Enterprises, the Rs 329 million Andhra Pradesh Economic Restructuring Project and the Rs 1.96 billion Andhra Pradesh Power Sector Reform.

She said that the urban services project for the poor was intended to improve the access of the poor in 32 Class I towns in the state to more appropriate and sustainable services.

The aim of the CASHE, a poverty-focussed project, was to address the fundamental problem of low incomes for poor women and their limited control over such incomes.

The goal of the project was to increase significantly the incomes and economic security of poor women and their households and this would include a wide range of micro-financial services to the poor, she added.

Clare said that the APERP would help the Andhra Pradesh government in allocating more resources to meeting priority human development needs, particularly for poor people, by providing assistance with reform of public enterprises and increasing revenue.

Under the power sector reform, the DFID would provide technical expertise to help the Andhra Pradesh government to reform the power sector and to release resources for spending on priority human development needs.

She said that the DFID was already providing assistance for various social infrastructure and industrial projects in backward regions of Andhra Pradesh. Some more projects are on the anvil. The budget is expected to be around Rs 4 billion.

UNI

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