Context: The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank signed a $230 million loan agreement for the Chennai Climate-Resilient Water Security and Sewerage Project, to modernise Chennai’s water supply and wastewater infrastructure.
What is the ADB?
- A regional multilateral development bank dedicated to promoting social and economic progress, eradicating extreme poverty, and fostering sustainable, inclusive growth across Asia and the Pacific.
- How it is structured: modelled closely on the World Bank, operating through a weighted voting system where voting power is proportional to member capital subscriptions.
Important Facts for Exams
- ADB established 19 December 1966; headquartered at Manila, Philippines
- President: Masato Kanda
- 69 members — 49 regional, 20 non-regional
- Weighted voting proportional to capital subscription
- Asian Development Fund (ADF) — its concessional lending window
- India is a founding member and among its largest borrowers
- Compare with AIIB (Beijing, 2016) and NDB (Shanghai, equal founder voting)
- Recent India project: $230 million for the Chennai Climate-Resilient Water Security and Sewerage Project, aligned with AMRUT 2.0 and the Urban Challenge Fund
