Last year, India gave 6 development LoCs worth Rs 17,550 crore to partner countries… Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh gave information…

India has taken major steps in the last one year as part of its strategic commitment to soft-power diplomacy, capacity building and further strengthening economic ties with the countries of the Global South. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh informed during a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that India has approved six Development Lines of Credit (LoC) worth about Rs 17,550 crore last year.

Responding to a question on development partnership initiatives in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister said that these concessional credit lines have been extended in important sectors like infrastructure, connectivity, social housing, mobility, health, agriculture and procurement of essential commodities. These loans, provided through Exim Bank of India under the Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme (IDEAS), help partner countries strengthen domestic infrastructure.

Grant-based help of Rs 4,500 crore also included

Apart from concessional loans, India has also approved around 60 projects worth about Rs 4,500 crore as grant-based assistance during the same period. These projects are related to education, agriculture, renewable energy, IT, healthcare, digital public infrastructure and connectivity. Along with this, many assistance funds have also been approved under Quick Impact Projects and Multilateral Framework.

‘Netra’ portal for online monitoring of projects

The government has created a digital mechanism to monitor foreign ventures and ensure timely progress. The minister informed that a new e-tracking and remote administration (NETRA) portal has been started from the year 2022 for the management and monitoring of LoC projects. Through this, impact assessment of the completed projects is also done from time to time.

This development cooperation model of India is completely ‘demand-driven’, which is based on the priorities of the partner countries. This step under the ‘Neighborhood First’ policy and Global South Outreach is further deepening India’s strategic and economic relations with the countries of Asia and Africa.