GUWAHATI, May 18: Chief Secretary Ravi Kota on Monday said he has reviewed World Bank-aided projects, worth Rs 16,648 crore, with officials of the lender.
The projects span critical sectors including transport connectivity, river basin management, healthcare, school education, governance reforms and resilient infrastructure development, Kota said.
The chief secretary said in an X post that he met with a delegation from the World Bank as per the directives of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
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The delegation was led by Johannes Zutt, Regional Vice President of the World Bank.
“The meeting reviewed the progress of ongoing World Bank-assisted projects in Assam and deliberated upon future areas of collaboration aligned with the State Government’s developmental priorities,” he added.
At present, Assam is implementing seven major World Bank-assisted externally aided projects with a cumulative outlay of approximately Rs 16,648 crore, of which the World Bank has lent nearly Rs 13,320 crore, Kota said.
The official said that in the meeting, they highlighted Assam’s focus on resilient infrastructure, digital governance reforms and citizen-centric service delivery, and emphasised the transformative impact of governance and technology-driven initiatives.
The Assam government requested the World Bank to consider greater flexibility in minimum project size norms for governance, institutional reform and digital transformation projects, he added.
“Also sought enhanced engagement of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for supporting Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives and infrastructure asset monetisation through technical and transaction advisory support for development of bankable PPP models across key sectors,” Kota said.
The World Bank delegation appreciated the state’s implementation progress and reassured flexibility in designing future operations aligned with timelines and outcomes, and emphasised the need to identify sectors where PPP models can be effectively financed, he added.
Kota said they discussed sustainable maintenance and lifecycle management of infrastructure assets created under externally aided projects.
The Assam government requested support for the creation of an Asset Management Fund, strengthening of institutional mechanisms and development of a digital Asset Management Information System for monitoring and maintenance of public infrastructure,” Kota said in the post. He said that the World Bank delegation appreciated the progress of ongoing projects in Assam and reaffirmed its continued support towards the state’s developmental priorities. (PTI)
