The Biden administration also proposed increasing aid to India in the health sector. (Representative)
Washington:
US President Joe Biden has proposed to increase developmental aid to India to counter clean energy, digital economy and rising authoritarianism.
The proposal to increase India’s developmental assistance from $25 million in 2021 to $66 million for fiscal 2023 is part of the State Department’s developmental assistance for fiscal year 2023, which was sent to the US Congress by the White House on Monday.
Part of the State Department budget said, “Increased funding for India supports India’s role as a regional leader by increasing clean energy and other climate programming. The funds will also advance investments in the digital economy.” “
“The aid will counter rising authoritarianism, strengthen human rights, and strengthen civil society participation and democratic governance,” the State Department said.
The Biden administration has also proposed increasing aid to India in the health sector from $34.5 million in 2021 to $48.5 million in 2023.
In total, the administration has proposed $302.2 million in developmental aid for South Asia to promote sustainable development to counter harmful economic practices and unsustainable debt. It said the funding would combat climate change by increasing investment in clean energy and adapting to climate risks.
The State Department also cited the Treasury Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) program to India as one of its success stories. With OTA support, India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has made significant progress in its smart city program to promote local project loan issuance by cities, the State Department said.
“The issuance of local debt – in its infancy in India – helps promote greater ownership and better planning of infrastructure and development projects, which currently range from water treatment to better local transport,” it said.
OTA previously worked with the Indian Municipality of Pune to facilitate its first bond issuance in 2017. Based on this success, OTA and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs expanded the collaboration to include six additional cities – Vadodara, Pimpri Chinchwad, Rajkot, Faridabad. , Mangaluru and Mysore.
According to the State Department, OTA is working with cities in coordination with the ministry to help incorporate best practices and lessons learned from the US municipal finance system, enabling better project vetting and monitoring, for investors. Improved disclosure and lower cost of capital. For regional capital reform plan.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)