Japan has again extended financial support to India by signing a loan agreement of up to 30 billion yen (around Rs 2,129 Crore) for mitigating the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 in India.
Key Points
The COVID-19 Crisis Response Support Loan for Social Protection was signed between Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, C. S. Mohapatra, and Ambassador of Japan to India SUZUKI Satoshi.
Japan has also provided other financial assistance to India to fight against COVID-19 before this.
A loan for the COVID-19 emergency of up to 50 billion yen (around Rs 3,549 crore) was provided by Japan for implementing health and medical policy by the Indian government.
Japan also extended a loan of around a billion yen for providing Oxygen Generators to India. These Generators were used in the treatment of COVID-19 patients under critical conditions.
Japan has also partnered with various international organizations after COVID-19 for providing financial assistance to India. The total assistance through these international organizations to India accounts for around USD 7.26 million.
Now, with this latest loan, the COVID-19 related assistance of Japan to India has reached approximately Rs. 5,800 Crore.
COVID-19 Vaccination
The vaccination drive in India is scheduled to start in India from January 16. Two COVID-19 vaccines will be utilized in the drive which has got emergency use approval in the country- Covaxin and Covishield.