The Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has granted $150-million in financial support to develop green and sustainable infrastructure and services in the southern Indian city of Chennai, the bank announced in a press release on Thursday.

The funding is part of AIIB's "Chennai City Partnership: Sustainable Urban Services Program" aimed at strengthening institutions and improving the quality and financial sustainability of selected urban services in Chennai, the thriving capital city of India's southern Tamil Nadu state.

"The Tamil Nadu state government is transforming Chennai into a city that is green, livable, competitive and resilient, and the AIIB is lending a hand in line with its mission to finance green and resilient Infrastructure for Tomorrow (i4t)," according to the press release.

Tamil Nadu is one of India's most urbanized states. While Chennai dominates the state's demographic and economic landscape and is experiencing rapid physical growth and changes in its boundaries, the city is also facing huge infrastructure deficits and low service quality in core urban sectors such as water resource management, water supply and sanitation, urban mobility, solid waste management and public health.

"AIIB is adapting and innovating constantly to deliver investment solutions that overcome the challenges our members face," said AIIB Vice President D. J. Pandian, who oversees the bank's investment operations in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

"In this case, we are helping India to increase their resilience and meet their objectives even during the most difficult times. We envision this project as a first-phase engagement and a building block for AIIB's long-term partnership with India and – on this particular case, Chennai – by supporting the government's program of expenditures," he elaborated.

India is AIIB's largest beneficiary as well as the second largest shareholder in the multilateral bank behind China. The bank has approved close to 30 projects worth more than $6.7 billion so far. In October this year, AIIB extended a $356.67-million loan for Chennai Metro Rail expansion.

The latest funding for Chennai "will cover core urban services and is aligned with AIIB's mandate, thematic priority to promote green infrastructure, and sustainable cities strategy," Pandian said.

A coastal city on the Bay of Bengal, Chennai is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, climate change and pandemics, as demonstrated by the COVID-19 emergency. The crises induced by COVID-19 have highlighted the need for better services as well as limitations of current delivery models. The pandemic created the momentum for Tamil Nadu to pivot toward sustainable infrastructure delivery and building back better and greener.

The "Chennai City Partnership…" program will complement AIIB-supported urban transport projects – such as the Chennai Metro Rail (Phase 2, Corridors 4 and 5) and Peripheral Ring Road – by improving the integration of public transport modes (in terms of routes, institutions and technology) and strengthening relevant institutions, according to the press release.

"AIIB's mission is to finance i4t – green infrastructure with sustainability, innovation and connectivity at its core," said Pandian, asserting that the Chennai project will go a long way in "transforming the city into a green, livable, competitive and resilient capital."

In October, speaking exclusively with CGTN Digital on the sidelines of AIIB annual meeting, Pandian had stressed that bridging the infrastructure gap in Asia is the key mandate for the multilateral bank for which it has prioritized the agenda of "Investing Today for Transforming Tomorrow."

"We want a better future for tomorrow, we want better climate resilient projects to be implemented tomorrow. So, at this annual meeting, our main concentration will be to implement our corporate strategy which aims at green infrastructure, regional connectivity, technology-oriented projects, and also to mobilize private sector capital. These are the four cornerstones of our corporate strategy," he told CGTN Digital.

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