The Government of Kerala, the Government of India, and the World Bank have inked a loan agreement for the First Resilient Kerala Program worth USD 250 million. The program aims to fortify the state’s robustness against the ramifications of natural disasters and climate change. The Resilient Kerala Initiative is designed to bolster the state’s institutional and financial capacity, protecting the assets and livelihoods of its most vulnerable citizens via an inclusive and participatory method.
Rebuild Kerala Development Programme and Its Objectives
The new scheme forms part of the Indian Government’s support towards Kerala’s ‘Rebuild Kerala Development Programme’, which aims to foster a green and resilient Kerala. This partnership will identify crucial areas of policy and institutional bolstering required to optimize development impact.
This initiative is the first of two Development Policy Operations aiming to mainstream disaster and climate resilience into critical infrastructure and services.
Key objectives of this program include:
- Improving river basin planning and water infrastructure operations management
- Enhancing water supply and sanitation services
- Promotion of resilient and sustainable agriculture, alongside improved agriculture risk insurance
- Improved resilience of the core road network
- Updating land records in high-risk areas
- Strengthening urban planning based on risk and better expenditure planning by urban local bodies
- Enhanced fiscal and public financial management capacity at the state level
Partnership with World Bank
Collaboration with states forms a vital element of the new Country Partnership Framework for India by the Bank. Through these collaborations, the Bank aims to back select states that are invested in bringing systemic improvements in planning and execution of development initiatives.
| World Bank Supported Projects in Kerala |
|---|
| Second Kerala State Transport Project |
| Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project |
| National Hydrology Project |
| National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project Phase 2 |
| Kerala Local Government and Service Delivery Project |
Development Policy Financing (DPF)
The DPF is a World Bank initiative aimed at helping borrowers achieve sustainable poverty reduction. This is achieved through a program of policy and institutional actions. For example, strengthening public financial management, improving the investment climate, addressing bottlenecks to improve service delivery, and diversifying the economy.
The DPF represents a shift from short-term macroeconomic stabilization and trade liberalization reforms of the 1980s-90s towards more medium-term institutional reforms. This could take the form of a loan, grant, or credit providing rapidly-disbursing financing to assist a borrower address actual or anticipated development financing requirements while promoting policy reform.
Last Modified: February 6, 2024