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India, Nature, Sustainability, Sustainable Energy

The plant is anticipated to produce an average of 953 gigawatt-hours of clean energy annually, helping to avoid approximately 783,855 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and SAEL Industries Limited, through its subsidiary SAEL Solar P4 Private Limited, have signed a loan of up to 12.23 billion Indian rupees (about $147 million equivalent) for the development of a 400-megawatt (MW) greenfield solar power plant in Gujarat, India, to support the country’s ongoing transition toward clean energy and low-carbon growth.

The financing package comprises 12.23 billion Indian rupees from ADB and a parallel loan of up to 6.11 billion Indian rupees underwritten by Tata Capital. ADB led the structuring of the financing package as well as the mobilisation of domestic private capital.

“The private sector must play a pivotal role in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy generation, particularly in Asia and the Pacific region, which contributes over half of global greenhouse gas emissions. As the region’s climate bank, ADB provides long-term local currency financing to stimulate private sector investment in clean energy,” said Suzanne Gaboury, ADB Director General for Private Sector Operations. “ADB’s partnership with SAEL supports the Government of India’s objective of achieving 500 gigawatts of renewable energy generation capacity by 2030.”

SAEL Solar P4 Private Limited will build and operate the solar powerplant, situated within the Khavda Ultra Mega Solar Park in Gujarat, India. The electricity generated by the solar plant will be supplied to Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited, the state-owned power distribution company, through a 25-year purchase agreement. The plant is anticipated to produce an average of 953 gigawatt-hours of clean energy annually, helping to avoid approximately 783,855 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. SAEL and ADB have previously partnered in a biomass power generation project that uses agricultural residue.

The plant is anticipated to produce an

Agribusiness, Sustainability, World

The project will enhance the resilience of farmers, including women, against market volatility, natural hazards, and climate change, and increase household and national food security

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a $20 million loan and a $20 million grant to the Kyrgyz Republic to help small and medium-sized agribusinesses improve their processing and storage capacity and reduce post-harvest handling losses, through inclusive, resilient, and climate-adaptive horticultural value chains.   

“The project will enhance the resilience of farmers, including women, against market volatility, natural hazards, and climate change, and increase household and national food security,” said Yevgeniy Zhukov, ADB Director General for Central and West Asia. “By equipping them with climate-smart agricultural technologies and strengthening value chains, farmers and all stakeholders along the value chains will be able to minimise resource cost and increase profitability.”  

The Climate-Resilient Agricultural Value Chain Development Project will provide long-term funds to qualified participating financial institutions to extend better-structured loans for horticulture value chain investments, including fruit and vegetables. Aiyl Bank, the most prominent bank financing the country’s agriculture sector, has been selected as the first financial institution to participate in this project. 

“About 80 per cent of small businesses in the Kyrgyz Republic are currently funded by family, friends, and informal sources,” said Giap Minh Bui, ADB Principal Natural Resources and Agriculture Specialist. “To stimulate private investment in modernizing agricultural value chains, local banks must have access to stable long-term funding sources and offer a range of term-lending products that are appropriate for and affordable to horticulture entrepreneurs, including women.” 

Aside from establishing modern processing, storage, and refrigerated facilities, the project will also help establish contract farming arrangements between farmers and processors and/or exporters; train women business owners; and implement measures to facilitate cross-border trade and branding for products that are unique to the Kyrgyz Republic. 

These measures aim to increase profitability for horticultural producers and agribusiness enterprises and strengthen market linkages to increase national food security.  

The project will enhance the resilience of

AgroPolicy, Finance, Horticulture, India

The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare through the National Horticulture Board and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $98 million loan to improve horticulture crop farmers’ access to certified disease-free planting materials, which will boost their crops’ yield, quality, and resilience to climate impacts. 

This project supports India’s agricultural transformation. ADB’s financing will support the Government of India’s Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Program (CPP), which was announced in February 2023 to establish clean plant centres and a certification scheme that will ensure farmers can purchase disease-free planting materials from private nurseries. 

“Horticulture is considered a primary engine for enhancing Indian farmers’ income due to its high value and nutritional importance. Ensuring the health of plants is vital to improving the productivity of farmers, especially since India has become among the top global producers of horticulture crops,” said Sunae Kim ADB Senior Natural Resources and Agriculture Specialist. “Plant health management will also help farmers adapt to climate change, as rising temperatures not only cause extreme weather events but also affect pest and disease behaviour.” 

The project will establish at least six clean plant centres dedicated to maintaining disease-free foundation materials. These centres will feature laboratories equipped with cutting-edge diagnostic testing methods and will be staffed with experts who are trained in clean plant operating procedures and diagnostic testing protocols. The project will also develop regulatory frameworks for the CPP, in partnership with private nurseries and researchers. It will roll out a clean plant certification scheme, accrediting private nurseries, and testing and certifying their planting materials. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare through the National Horticulture Board and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.    

The project will be implemented by the

Company News, Finance, India

At least 40 per cent of the proceeds will be allocated to women borrowers, while the rest will support farmers, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $125 million loan agreement with L&T Finance to support financing in rural and peri-urban areas in India, particularly for women borrowers.

The funding comprises a loan of up to $125 million from ADB, and an agreement to syndicate an additional $125 million co-financing from other development partners. At least 40 per cent of the proceeds will be allocated for women borrowers, while the rest will support farmers, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and loans to purchase new two-wheeled vehicles. 

“Rural India, with 65 per cent of the country’s population engaged in agriculture, contributes almost half of the national income,” said Suzanne Gaboury, ADB Director General for Private Sector Operations. “This partnership with L&T Finance, which has the capacity to provide credit at scale, allows ADB to support individual livelihoods and small businesses, with a specific focus on reaching women borrowers.”

Despite steady rural economic growth, rural communities face significant barriers to accessing financial services. About 70 per cent of marginal farmers do not have a bank account and 87 per cent lack access to credit. Women are disproportionately affected, with only 14 per cent having access to credit.

Microloans, farm equipment loans, two-wheeled vehicle loans, and MSME loans have been identified as segments with strong growth potential anticipated in the medium term. By focusing on lending in rural and peri-urban areas of lagging states in India, the project is strategically aligned with the goals of India’s Ministry of Rural Development.

At least 40 per cent of the

Finance, Goat farming, Live Stock, World

The grant will support capacity-building activities on sustainable pasture management, basic pasture ecology, financial literacy, and budget management for at least 200 nomadic herders

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Gobi Joint Stock Company have signed a $30 million sustainability-linked loan to support the cashmere value chain in Mongolia and provide stable incomes and employment to 1,200 herders and 1,300 industry employees. The loan will be used to procure raw cashmere from herders, as well as for cashmere processing activities. 

In addition, a $1 million technical assistance grant will be provided to support scalable sustainable pasture and herd management and to run workshops on climate-resilient practices for herder groups in the Khuvsgul and Bayankhongor provinces. Sustainability-linked loans incentivise the achievement of sustainable performance goals in return for a variable or lower interest rate. This loan will target increased direct procurement from herders, emission reduction, and water conservation, as well as training herders in pasture management.

Mongolian herders are severely affected by climate change, which is causing or contributing to increased heatwaves, droughts, dzuds (severe winter conditions), and desertification. Careful management of pasture and ecology is essential to mitigate the effects of overgrazing and improve climate resilience. The reliable income and technical support provided by the Gobi is critical to supporting herders in these endeavours.   

“Mongolia contributes nearly half of the global raw cashmere supply, but most of it is exported and only a fraction is processed into final products inside the country. Fostering a sustainable cashmere production industry will help diversify this important industry and boost its contribution to the broader economy,” said Suzanne Gaboury, ADB Director General for Private Sector Operations.

The grant will support capacity-building activities on sustainable pasture management, basic pasture ecology, financial literacy, and budget management for at least 200 nomadic herders, of which at least 80 will be women. It will also fund support for the improvement of pasture ecology and management and seek solutions to help herders reduce herd sizes while maintaining or increasing income.

The grant will support capacity-building activities on

Agrotech, Sustainability, World

ADB will introduce new technologies and best practices, including advanced big data platforms to optimise agricultural production

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $200 million equivalent loan to spur rural green development in Yichang Municipality, Hubei Province in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

“The Hubei Yichang Rural Green Development Project will modernise Yichang’s agriculture sector in a smart, green, and sustainable manner,” said Alfredo Baño Leal ADB Senior Energy Specialist. “ADB will introduce new technologies and best practices, including advanced big data platforms to optimise agricultural production, as well as research that will help develop more climate-resilient agricultural products.”

Yichang is part of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), one of the three key economic growth engines in the PRC. Inefficient irrigation methods, monoculture crops, and outdated infrastructure have made traditional agriculture severely vulnerable to extreme weather events, including flooding and drought. The municipality has one of the most serious soil erosion problems in the PRC, aggravated by poor land management practices and seasonal high-intensity rainfall.

The project will increase crop productivity in Yichang and optimise the food supply chain through smart green agriculture while building capacity and creating additional skilled jobs. This includes innovative practices such as introducing climate-resilient crop varieties, adopting efficient fertigation systems, reducing food waste, supporting farm-to-market channels on digital platforms, and adding climate adaptation measures to reduce soil erosion and manage floods.

The project will also introduce distributed small-scale renewable energy in many locations to reduce the consumption of grid electricity—which is dominated by coal-fired power generation—and support climate change mitigation efforts. It will install agricultural waste management and water treatment systems and facilities in Yichang. Farmers and workers involved in small-scale agricultural activities will benefit from a cleaner rural environment and improved resilience of rural infrastructures.

ADB will introduce new technologies and best

Finance, Sustainability, World

The financing supports domestic food production, reduces import dependency, and addresses food security challenges arising from economic, climate, and regional political uncertainties

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Bank Respublika Open Joint Stock Company signed a 34 million Azerbaijan manat loan (around $20 million) to support women borrowers and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) involved in agricultural production, processing, and trade in Azerbaijan.

The financing supports domestic food production, reduces import dependency, and addresses food security challenges arising from economic, climate, and regional political uncertainties. Boosting the agriculture sector has significant potential to reduce poverty as most of the country’s food is produced by smallholder farmers.

“MSMEs are essential to lift incomes and create jobs in Azerbaijan, as they employ more than two-thirds of working people and nearly 40 per cent of registered women-owned businesses are in the agriculture sector. Bank Respublika is a longstanding reliable partner of ADB and its work aligns with ADB’s goal of improving food security, strengthening agriculture, and helping women to access finance, training, and markets. We look forward to our continued partnership with Bank Respublika” said Candice McDeigan, ADB’s Azerbaijan Country Director.

A majority of private businesses in Azerbaijan are MSMEs with almost half of them located in rural areas. Despite their importance, MSMEs struggle to access financial resources, making it harder for them to secure bank loans than larger firms. The country’s financial sector is slowly recovering from the impact of COVID-19 while currency-related risks continue to be a concern in the banking sector.

“Bank Respublika is a strong and valued partner due to its significant presence in rural areas, focus on MSMEs, and commitment to improving financial access for women and rural customers,” says Suzanne Gaboury, ADB Director General for Private Sector Operations. “This deal draws from our regional experience, particularly the advantages of using local currency to strengthen capital markets.”

ADB will also issue a Manat-denominated bond to support the loan. ADB will also work with Bank Respublika to promote gender equality through a professional development certification program for women employees and tailored financial services for female clients. ADB will work with Bank Respublika to develop gender-disaggregated loan data and provide training to loan agents on understanding women’s business concerns.

The financing supports domestic food production, reduces

Finance, SAARC, Sustainability, Water

It will significantly increase agricultural productivity and profitability through effective, participatory, and sustainable water resources management over more than 220,000 hectares in 42 districts

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $106 million loan to improve water resources management and agricultural productivity in rural Bangladesh. 

The project builds on the success and lessons from three prior ADB-financed participatory small-scale water resources management projects in Bangladesh and scales up investment while intensifying climate and disaster resilience support and food security through new and improved water resources infrastructures and services for flood and drought risk management, drainage improvement, and irrigation systems modernisation. It will significantly increase agricultural productivity and profitability through effective, participatory, and sustainable water resources management over more than 220,000 hectares in 42 districts, home to 77 per cent of the rural poor.

Implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department, it will establish 150 new water management cooperative associations and strengthen 230 existing ones; support emergency reconstruction and modernisation of the Bakkhali rubber dam scheme; construct 110 kilometres of farm and village roads with all-weather features; and increase participation of women, youth, and small ethnic communities. 

“More than half of the national population live in rural areas, and agriculture is a main source of employment. Livelihoods are threatened by worsening water insecurity and climate impacts,” said Olivier Drieu, ADB Senior Water Resources Specialist. “The project will strengthen climate and disaster resilience by introducing water management measures, such as raising and strengthening flood embankments, deepening channels to increase water retention, irrigation structures, efficient electric pump-pipe and buried-pipe irrigation systems, as well as new technologies for crop and aquaculture production. It will also promote climate-smart agribusiness and fishery development and marketing to support the livelihoods of 380,000 households, especially those of women and vulnerable persons.”

The innovative and climate resilience features of the project have attracted cofinancing. The International Fund for Agricultural Development provides a loan of $42.98 million and the Government of the Netherlands a grant of $17.8 million to finance innovative pilot works and consulting services supporting the innovations. The Government of Bangladesh provides $58.22 million of counterpart funds.

It will significantly increase agricultural productivity and

Climate, India, Nature, Sustainable Energy

The power plant, located in Tirunelveli district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India, is expected to generate about 50.7 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Fourth Partner Energy Private Limited (Fourth Partner) signed a long-term loan of up to 1.2 billion Indian rupees (about $14.7 million) to construct and operate a 25-megawatt solar photovoltaic-based power plant to increase clean and low-cost energy supply to commercial and industrial customers.

The power plant, located in Tirunelveli district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India, is expected to generate about 50.7 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually and will directly sell power to commercial and industrial users. India’s progressive open-access renewable energy policy allows a group of consumers to purchase electricity directly from an Independent Power Producer (IPP).

“Open access energy procurement can play an important role in businesses achieving their net zero emissions targets,” said Suzanne Gaboury, ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department Director General. “Solutions like this are being spearheaded by ADB to promote renewable energy across the region. This is ADB’s first direct financing to a renewable energy plant of this nature and is expected to crowd in international commercial financing to further decarbonize the commercial and industrial sector”.

Nearly 41,700 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year will be avoided through the plant, which would otherwise have been generated by conventional fossil fuel plants.

“We are excited to add ADB to our esteemed list of green financiers as we move closer to our 3.5 GW renewable energy target by 2025.  Fourth Partner is also constructing solar and wind parks across Ottapidaram, Tuticorin, and Nandikundu in Tamil Nadu,” said Vivek Subramanian, Fourth Partner Energy Co-Founder and Executive Director. “We see this project as the beginning of our long-standing partnership with ADB to deliver cleaner, affordable power to India’s commercial and industrial sector,”

The power plant, located in Tirunelveli district

Acquaculture, Live Stock, Sustainability, World

Groundbreaking partnership with ADB, CAF, EBRD and IOC-UNESCO aims to address agricultural, municipal, and industrial pollution from land-based sources that harm coastal environments.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), along with four partner agencies, has been tasked with leading the Clean and Healthy Oceans Integrated Program, a source-to-sea initiative that will direct up to $115 million in grants to help countries curb land-based pollution of coastal environments and Large Marine Ecosystems. 

The decision was made at the 64th Council Meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and strains on land and ocean health.

FAO will co-lead the program together with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) in a strategic partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO).

Oceans have lost nearly 2 per cent of their oxygen since the 1950s, resulting in dead zones – known as hypoxia – that cannot support marine life. Pollution from land-based sources, including the overuse of fertiliser, organic waste from livestock, and untreated municipal and industrial wastewater, typically drives hypoxia worldwide.

Land-based pollution puts marine biodiversity, ecosystems, coastal economies and industries reliant on fisheries and the oceans’ resources at risk. Under long-term hypoxia, coral reefs may experience mass mortalities, valuable coastal fish species migrate to higher oxygen areas, and many marine species’ growth and reproduction rates plummet.

The Clean and Healthy Oceans Integrated Program aims to curb land-based pollution of our oceans through policy and regulatory innovation, infrastructure investments, and nature-based solutions. It will also map land-based sources of ocean pollution to understand the impacts of hypoxia better and apply ocean science to develop solutions that improve human and ocean health.

Specifically, the program aims to improve sustainable practices on 200,000 hectares of landscapes and 14.3 million hectares of marine habitats (an area roughly the size of all of Thailand’s cultivable land). Additional aims include reducing pollution and improving management in more than three Large Marine Ecosystems, and mitigating 5.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

This is the first time FAO, ADB, CAF, EBRD and IOC-UNESCO have teamed up under one program to deliver global environmental benefits.

Groundbreaking partnership with ADB, CAF, EBRD and

AgroPolicy, Finance, Horticulture, India, Water

The project builds upon a pilot financed by ADB’s project readiness facility which demonstrated the subtropical horticulture production of over 200 hectares

The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $130 million loan to increase agricultural productivity, improve access to irrigation and promote horticulture agribusinesses to raise farmers’ income in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

The signatories to the Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation, and Value Addition Project were Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, for the Government of India, and Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, for ADB.

After signing the loan agreement, Mishra stated that improving subtropical horticulture in the southern areas of Himachal Pradesh, hitherto dependent on temperate horticulture in northern areas, offers opportunities for crop diversification, climate adaptation and more equal economic and social development across the state’s rural areas. Supporting horticulture value chains will also boost the subsector’s contribution to the country’s development and food security.

“The project builds upon a pilot financed by ADB’s project readiness facility which demonstrated the subtropical horticulture production over 200 hectares and prepared the draft water user association (WUA) act and the draft state horticulture development strategy,” said Konishi.

The project interventions will help increase the income and resilience to the effects of climate change of at least 15,000 farm households across 7 districts of the state namely Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Sirmour, Solan, and Una. These households have stopped farming or have reduced their farming areas because of a lack of irrigation facilities and crop damage by wild and stray animals.

The project will improve on-farm irrigation and water management in about 6,000 hectares of farmland by rehabilitating or building new irrigation schemes and strengthening the capacity of WUAs for micro-irrigation management through joint efforts from the state’s Jal Shakti Vibhag (Water Resources Department) and Department of Horticulture (DOH).

The project will also help create an ecosystem to enhance farmers’ access to markets of subtropical horticulture. The farmers will be organised into cluster-wide community horticulture production and marketing associations (CHPMAs) and district-wide CHPMA cooperative societies. CHPMA apex institution, a farmer producer company (FPC), will lead state-wide agribusiness development with the aim of ensuring profitability and access to markets of subtropical horticulture. The FPC will handle business plan development; agribusiness promotion; and designing value-addition facilities such as sorting and packaging facilities, and storage and collection centres. It will also assist CHPMAs in managing these facilities.

The project will also modernise public and private subtropical horticulture nursery facilities for improved plant health, and boost beneficiary farmers’ access to information and communication technologies, and other digital agri-technology systems for real-time farm advisories and better CHPMA management.

The project builds upon a pilot financed

Agrotech, Climate, Company News, Environment, India, Sustainability, Sustainable Energy

ADB’s support will fund the construction of five 14.9-megawatt biomass power plants in the districts of Bikaner, Churu, Hanumangarh, Jhunjhunu, and Sikar in the state of Rajasthan

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and SAEL Industries Limited have signed loan agreements of up to 7.5 billion Indian rupees (around $91.14 million) to promote the generation of biomass energy using agricultural residue, helping diversify India’s energy mix and reduce carbon intensity. 

ADB’s support will fund the construction of five 14.9-megawatt biomass power plants in the districts of Bikaner, Churu, Hanumangarh, Jhunjhunu, and Sikar in the state of Rajasthan. Around 1.5 billion Indian rupees for each power plant will be provided to subsidiaries of SAEL Industries: Chattargarh Renewable Energy Private Limited, KTA Power Private Limited, Sardarshahar Agri Energy Private Limited, TNA Renewable Energy Private Limited, and VCA Power Private Limited. 

“Establishing biomass power plants that can repurpose agricultural residue will help protect the environment while contributing to the government’s goal of expanding renewable energy sources and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. It will also help increase the income of local farmers through sales of agricultural residue and reduce the burning of agricultural waste, contributing to the improvement of air quality,” said Ashok Lavasa, ADB Vice-President for Private Sector Operations and Public–Private Partnerships. “ADB’s assistance will have a powerful demonstration effect for biomass power by helping reduce risk perceptions and by creating awareness of its benefits and potential for use in other rural communities and developing member countries.”

The power plants will convert about 650,000 tons of agricultural residues into electricity and are expected to generate 544 gigawatt-hours of energy per annum, helping avoid up to 487,200 tons of carbon dioxide annually. Local farmer incomes will rise through the sale of agricultural residue. The project also aims to purchase agricultural residue and other goods and services from at least 100 women-owned microbusinesses and 10 women’s self-help groups.

“By collecting the crop stubble to be used as fuel in our waste-to-energy plants, we help combat one of our nation’s greatest health issues, while simultaneously creating local employment and generating extra income for farmers and local entrepreneurs. We are happy to have ADB partnering with us in these efforts,” said Jasbir Singh, SAEL Industries Chairman and Managing Director.

ADB’s support will fund the construction of

Finance, Horticulture, India, Schemes - Banks, Sustainability, Water

The project will improve on-farm irrigation and water management in about 6,000 hectares of farmland by rehabilitating and constructing new irrigation facilities

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $130 million loan to increase agricultural productivity and promote horticulture agribusinesses to raise farmers’ income in Himachal Pradesh, India.

The Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation, and Value Addition Project will help increase the income and resilience to the effects of climate change of at least 15,000 farm households in Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Sirmour, Solan, and Una.

The project will improve on-farm irrigation and water management in about 6,000 hectares of farmland by rehabilitating and constructing new irrigation facilities, establishing new water sources, and strengthening the capacity of water user associations and of Jal Shakti Vibhag (Water Resources Department).

Farmers will be organised into cluster-wide community horticulture production and marketing associations (CHPMAs) and district-wide CHPMA cooperative societies. They will be introduced to other agricultural practices such as intercropping, beekeeping, and other modern agronomic techniques and skills. A farmer-producer company (FPC) will be created at the state level to lead agribusiness development with the aim of ensuring profitability and access to markets of subtropical horticulture. The FPC will handle business plan development; agribusiness promotion; and designing value-addition facilities such as sorting and packaging facilities, and storage and collection centres. It will also assist district CHPMAs in managing these facilities.

“More than half of Himachal Pradesh’s land area is in the mountains and 90 per cent of the population lives in rural areas that are dependent on agriculture,” said ADB Sunae Kim Senior Natural Resources and Agriculture Specialist for South Asia. “Improving subtropical horticulture in the state offers a lot of economic opportunities to farmer households. Supporting horticulture value chains will also boost the subsector’s contribution to the country’s development and food security.”

The project will improve on-farm irrigation and

Agro chems – Fertilizers, Environment, India, Sustainability

Initiative to help farmers adopt best practices in soil nutrition, climate-resilient farming

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced that it would fund the farm efficiency initiative of Smartchem Technologies Limited (STL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deepak Fertilisers And Petrochemicals Corporation Limited (DFPCL), through a $30 million loan facility with a tenor of 5 years. This is ADB’s first agribusiness ‘Blue Loan’, and the first such blue loan in India in the agribusiness sector across institutions. The loan will be used to finance capital expenditure as well as research and development of enhanced-efficiency speciality fertilisers.

STL was chosen as a suitable candidate for Asian Development Bank (ADB) support because of its leading market position in the enhanced efficiency specialised fertilisers (EESF) segment, with advanced technical capability and satisfactory financial performance. Growth potential from the enhancement of fertiliser production capacity to provide quality inputs.

Actions to encourage the application of EESFs, which will support the sustainable transformation of agriculture in India while improving its resilience to climate change.

ADB has also given approval for a technical assistance grant of $5,00,000 for building capacity for Soil Nutrition Management among Smallholder Farmers and Climate Resilience in India. The said grant is in addition to financing of $30 Million (“Blue loan”).

Enhanced-efficiency speciality fertilisers have shown increased output while reducing the need for fertiliser application rate and also reduces environmental impact and supports Nutrient uptake efficiencies and thus delivers better productivity leading to improved food security.

Initiative to help farmers adopt best practices