The Asian Development Bank will invest close to $.7.5 billion in India in the next three years.

ADB's assistance would focus on infrastructure investment along with policy and institutional reforms to raise productivity, enable efficient growth, and promote private sector development according to a senior official of the ADB.

Roads (national and state highways), inland waterways, agro processing units and power would be the sectors that would attract a major part of these investments, said Albab Akanda, Head (Infrastructure), at ADB's India Resident Mission.

Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala figure prominently in the beneficiary list of states. Of course, the support from the Bank will come with committed structural reforms in each of the industries.

"In the power sector, transmission and distribution would an area we would be supporting and also rural electrification," Akanda said.

New loan project in 2003 include renewable energy development, Kolkata Clean Fuel, gas pipeline infrastructure, modernising government and fiscal reforms in Kerala, Chhattisgarh state roads, rural road sector development.

For 2004 assistance would be focused on hydropower development, Assam power sector management and information communication technology infrastructure project.

According to the Bank sources, loan amounts have been revised from $250 million to $300 million for National Highway Corridor II and III and Integrated Urban Development in Madhya Pradesh. The assistance will be to the tune of $1.9 billion in 2004 and $2.3 billion in 2005.

The bank's assistance to the power sector in Madhya Pradesh came with structural reform in the state's power sector like restructuring of the Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board mandatory metering of all consumers, rationalisation of tariff that all classes of consumers will pay.

The objective of the program was to instill competition, corporatisation, commercialization and private sector participation in the power sector in Madhya Pradesh to improve the quality and quantity of power supply to the customers.

The bank also proposes to assist Kerala and Assam to develop inland waterways to the tune of $200 million.