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The work of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is aimed at improving the welfare of the people in Asia and the Pacific, particularly the 1.9 billion who live on less than $2 a day
 India
In 2003, ADB approved a loan assistance of $400 million for the Government’s Rural Roads Program (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana) program, and made $750 million available in 2005 (as an MFF loan). The program has successfully improved nearly 87,314 kilometres of rural roads. The $85 million Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Project (KUIDP) has met its objective of improving basic urban services and infrastructure in the four main towns surrounding Bangalore.
More than 1.5 million people—mainly the urban poor and those with low income—benefited from the improved services constructed under the project. More than 17,500 low-income homes were fitted with personal toilets and water connections.
The Madhya Pradesh Power Sector Development loan (December 2001–December 2006) has helped separate the generation, transmission, and distribution companies of the State Electricity Board, improving the viability of the state power sector through rationalization of tariffs, financial restructuring, and improved cost recovery through expanded metering. The loan has also helped establish the legal and regulatory framework for encouraging private sector participation.
Sovereign lending to India in 2006 totaled $1.26 billion. Since 1983, ADB has approved a total of $1.03 billion in financial assistance to 37 private sector projects in India.
Pakistan
ADB-assisted Microfinance Sector Development Program, approved in 2000 for $150 million, has assisted in establishing the Khushalibank (KB), the largest microfinance operation in the country.
In response to the earthquake of 8 October 2005, ADB approved the creation of the Emergency Livelihood Restoration Fund (ELRF) with savings taken from MSDF and CIF. The scope of ELRF will cover asset replacement, community group formation, skills enhancement, and community infrastructure grants, among others.
The Punjab Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project, approved in 1995 and completed in 2002, with a focus on constructing small water supply and sanitation schemes, has benefited about 800,000 poor people in the rural communities of Punjab, particularly women and children, who are now free from the burden of fetching water from long distances.
Meanwhile, ADB approved a financing of $300 million for the Ghazi–Barotha Hydropower Project in January 1996 to assist Pakistan in bridging the demand-supply gap in the energy sector. The project has the capacity to produce 1,450 megawatts of low-cost electricity annually in an environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable manner.
Projects in 2006 included an Improving Access to Financial Services Project for $320 million, a Rural Enterprise Modernization Project for $5 million, Technical Assistance Loan for Mega City Development for $10 million, the National Highway Development Sector Investment Program (Subproject 1) $180 million, the Punjab Irrigated Agriculture etc.
Bangladesh
With co financing from ADB, the World Bank, and the Government of Japan, for example, the Jamuna Bridge established an important land connection between the poorer northwest region of the country and the eastern half, which includes the capital Dhaka and Chittagong port in the southeast. The Bridge has reduced transport costs, boosted trade, and increased labor migration.
In the area of health, under the first phase, the Urban Primary Health Care Project established health care centers in low-income areas of four major cities through which NGOs are subcontracted to provide primary health care services. Women and children will constitute more than 75% of all project beneficiaries. The project also helps female victims of domestic violence get legal assistance.
The Second Primary Education Development Program, meanwhile, is a flagship program for the Government of Bangladesh. Under a sector-wide approach supported by 11 development partners led by ADB, and approved in 2003, the program aims to reduce poverty and support sustainable economic development through universal primary education and raise learning standards and student achievements.
In 2006, ADB approved a total amount of $255.10 million in loans and $430 million under the multitranche financing facility (MFF) (of which $400 million was from ordinary capital resources and $30.0 million ADF). These include
- $96.1 million project to reduce rural poverty through sustainable economic growth, rural development, improved infrastructure, and local governance;
- $115.0 million sector development program in secondary education for nationwide replication of reforms developed under the successfully completed Secondary Education Sector Improvement Project;
- $3.0 million to enhance the governance and capacity of the capital markets targeted at the regulator, stock exchanges, market practitioners, and investors;
- $41.0 million project to improve the living conditions and health standards in pourashavas (municipalities) and improve the sustainability of pourashava water utilities; and
- $430.0 million assistance for the Railway Sector Investment Program
Sri Lanka
The delivery of ADB’s post-conflict assistance, which started with the North East Community Restoration and Development Project (NECORD), has so far been very successful. More than 58 village development plans and hundreds of small-scale rehabilitation projects have been approved for minor roads, hospitals, schools, water supply and sanitation, irrigation, and shelter. On a larger scale, the Southern Transport Development Project is building the first limited access expressway in Sri Lanka. With a total length of 128 kilometers, it will connect Colombo to Matara in the Southern Province. It will provide a substantial economic impetus to the development of the Southern Province reducing congestion, accidents, and postharvest losses, which are estimated at 40% in the case of some crops as they are transported to Colombo Construction, should be finalized by 2010.
In 2006, ADB approved two supplementary loans of $60 million for water supply. The Secondary Towns and Rural Community-Based Water Supply and Sanitation Project in four urban areas in Batticoloa and Muttur in the North–East province will benefit more than 1 million people. The Project will provide safe drinking water and safe sanitation to people in project areas.
Nepal
ADB-assisted irrigation projects—the Second Irrigation Sector Project and Irrigation Management Transfer Project completed in November 2003 and September 2004, respectively, and the ongoing Community Groundwater Irrigation Sector Project— increased year-round irrigated area by about 50,300 hectares during 2000–2005. The above projects have benefited small and marginal farmers and disadvantaged ethnic communities through increased agricultural production and employment generation. These projects, complemented by the ongoing Crop Diversification Project (CDP), have helped in increasing Nepal’s agricultural production by 967,188 metric tons.
The ADB-assisted Rural Infrastructure Development Project (completed in June 2005) constructed fair weather rural roads in three districts—Baglung and Tanahun in the western region, and Kavre in the central region. Some 184,000 people living in those areas have directly benefited from the project in terms of access to basic services and market for their agricultural produce. The project generated employment, and the skills acquired during the construction phase have helped these laborers find jobs in nearby villages where similar works are ongoing.
Bhutan
A comprehensive review of the impact of ADB’s assistance to Bhutan was completed by the Operations Evaluation Division and the Country Assistance Program Evaluation and is posted on ADB’s website.
Under the Rural Electrification and Network Expansion project, ADB is assisting the Government’s Ninth Five-Year Plan objective to electrify 15,000 households. Under the project, ADB is helping the Government provide electricity not only to about 8,000 rural consumers, mostly households, but also to hospitals, schools, and other public facilities.
Another major issue for Bhutan is the accessibility of its communities. The country’s trunk road network is limited and unsuitable for larger and heavier vehicles. To encourage socioeconomic development and cope with an expansion of traffic, the existing road infrastructure must be upgraded and improved. A technical assistance will help the Government build capacity for auditing road safety and road asset management.
ADB’s Urban Infrastructure Improvement project, meanwhile, is helping the Government improve urban areas through infrastructure development, development of effective and sustainable management of urban services, human development through physical improvements and supporting economic growth.
Afghanistan
The $167.18 million Postconflict Multisector Program loan approved in late 2002 supported policy and institutional reforms directed at improvement in governance and the strengthening of the financial, transport, and energy sectors. A $55 million Agriculture Sector Program has supported the development of a sound policy framework and has helped establish more efficient institutions.
A $150 million Emergency Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Project, approved in mid-2003, rehabilitated 447 kilometres of the nation’s primary ring road and is contributing to the repair of power transmission lines.
Subsequent ADB infrastructure projects have focused on rebuilding additional sections of the primary ring road (3 loan/ grant projects, including the $138.2 million North–South Corridor project in 2006), the rehabilitation of seven regional airports, and construction of a 110-kilovolt power transmission network and the rehabilitation or construction of associated substations and distribution systems. The 2005 Western Basins Water Resources Management Project will support integrated water resource management, water resource and irrigation development, agriculture and livelihood services, and capacity development and project management in the Western Basins region. In 2006, a $35 million Regional Power Transmission Interconnection Project was approved; the project will interconnect power grids in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, allowing Tajikistan to export surplus electrical power to Afghanistan.
The $55 million Fiscal Management and Public Administration Reform Program, consisting of a $48 million program loan and a $7 million grant, and approved in late 2005, is supporting government efforts to improve fiscal management and to undertake comprehensive reforms.
Maldives
Since 1998, nearly all ADB-assisted projects in the Maldives have focused on improving physical and social infrastructure in the atolls, aimed at poverty reduction. The Regional Development Project (Phase I), approved in 1999, focuses on regional (atolls) development in the North Development Region and South Development Region, and acts as a catalyst for economic growth.
The Postsecondary Education Development Project, approved in 1998, aims to improve the quality of and upgrade access to postsecondary education. The project is strengthening the institutional quality and capacity of the seven existing postsecondary educational institutions by expanding in-country curricula choices and raising the level of courses leading to internationally recognized advanced diplomas.
The Employment Skills Training Project, approved in 2003, is a follow-up of the above Postsecondary Education Development Project and is designed to increase the number of Maldivians actively participating in the labor force.
The Outer Islands Electrification Project, approved in 2001, is improving electricity supply in 20 outer islands, where the majority of the country’s poor reside. The project has three components: (i) to expand and augment the power supply systems; (ii) to strengthen the capacity of the sector regulator, the Maldives Electricity Bureau, and of the Ministry of Planning and National Development; and (iii) to strengthen the legal framework for the outer islands’ power supply utilities to increase their accountability and ownership of the power supply systems. 
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