JICA to give Rs 2,000 cr to India for COVID-19 crisis response support

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement with India to provide an Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan of 30 billion Japanese yen (about Rs 2,069 crore) for 'The COVID-19 Crisis Response Support Loan for Social Protection'.

The objective of the project is to contain COVID-19 and mitigate adverse socio-economic impacts in India, JICA said in a statement.

This will be done by extending budget support to the government implementing emergency response programmes and policy reforms for social protection as countermeasures against the COVID-19, thereby contributing to promoting the social and economic stabilisation and development efforts of India, it added.

Suzuki Satoshi, Ambassador of Japan to India, and C S Mohapatra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs exchanged notes here concerning the provision of yen loan for response to COVID-19 (total loan provision of up to 50 billion yen), a release from Embassy of Japan said.

''The project aims at supporting the government in its endeavour of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) to empower these disadvantaged groups, whose lives have been hampered with the occurrence of the pandemic,'' Katsuo Matsumoto, Chief Representative, JICA India said.

''Besides this project, JICA has extended an ODA loan of 'COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support' to strengthen the public healthcare system under the Prime Minister Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PM-ASBY),'' he added.

The JICA release further said the project aims to strengthen the capability of state and national governments in India to provide coordinated and adequate social protection to the poor and vulnerable from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and from future crisis.

The loan aligns with loans provided by other multilateral and bilateral donor agencies such as World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).

Department of Economic Affairs is the executing agency of the project.

JICA aims to contribute to the promotion of international cooperation, as a sole Japanese governmental agency in charge of ODA implementation. It is the world's largest bilateral donor agency.

Embassy of Japan in the release said that in response to the spread of the COVID-19 infection in India, the Government of Japan has provided ''COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan'' (total loan provision of up to 50 billion yen) to provide the necessary funds for emergency response in the health and medical sectors in India.

As a consequence of economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the vulnerable groups, including the poor and women, have been severely affected, it said.

''This loan provides the necessary funds for the Government of India to implement economic support programs for the poor and vulnerable and policy reforms, including but not limited to health and medical sectors, which are essential in the fight against COVID-19,'' it said.

Interest rate on the loan is 0.65 per cent per annum and the redemption period is 15 years (including a 5–year grace period).