According to the Bank’s website, the project consists of a regional technical assistance (TA) is proposed to support India and Nepal for sustainable tourism development and affordable housing to contribute to the development of livable cities that are green, climate resilient, inclusive, smart and competitive. The TA will support policy advice, capacity building, and project preparation in several states/cities of India and Nepal by applying innovative and integrated solutions with a focus on the key subsectors of: (i) social and affordable housing; (ii) sustainable tourism development and the creative economy; and (iii) municipal and subnational financing. The TA will enable enhanced climate action and financing, disaster risk management, and increased private sector participation and investment across the subsectors. The TA will support robust climate mitigation and adaptation measures for developing transformational type 1 and 2 projects in the affordable and social housing and tourism subsectors. These projects will be aligned with the Paris Agreement and address India's climate change priorities. The TA will initially support India and Nepal but scope will be expanded to cover additional South Asia DMCs subject to DMCs' needs and funding availability.

The TA aims to (i) strengthen the capacities of institutions, government officials, and stakeholders, in the housing, tourism, and related subsectors; (ii) support knowledge sharing and twinning arrangements to share best practices from the region; (iii) enhance stakeholder understanding of climate action and integrate climate resilience and disaster risk management in investments for housing, and tourism development, including introducing innovations that support low-carbon initiatives and nature-based solutions; (iv) identify and implement financial innovations and mechanisms to improve operational efficiency and financial sustainability, and access to housing finance for women and other vulnerable groups; and (v) promote planned urbanization, and private sector participation in the urban development, housing, and tourism subsectors where feasible.

Key outputs envisaged from the TA include: (i) facilitating policy development and analytical studies to support investments in the areas of integrated urban planning, green, social and affordable housing, energy efficiency, sustainable tourism development, creative economy and subnational finance; (ii) development of sector assessments including pipeline development for all three subsectors; (iii) preparation of strategic master plans to support township development, housing programs, tourism circuits and corridor development; (iv) design and implementation of capacity development initiatives; and (v) conducting project identification and scoping activities to prepare investment projects.

According to the Technical Assistance Report, the Risk Categories are:

Environment: Not Applicable
Involuntary Resettlement: Not Applicable
Indigenous Peoples: Not Applicable

The TA financing amount is $750,000, which will be financed on a grant basis by ADB’s Technical Assistance Special Fund (TASF) ($500,000 from savings and cancellations [S&C] TASF-other sources and $250,000 from S&C TASF 6).

The governments of participating DMCs will provide counterpart support in the form of counterpart staff time and other in-kind contributions.

Project Officer: Ramola Naik Singru
Designation: Principal Urban Development Specialist - Asian Development Bank
Email: rsingru@adb.org

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.adb.org/forms/request-information-form

ADB has a two-stage appeals process for requesters who believe that ADB has denied their request for information in violation of its Access to Information Policy. You can learn more about filing an appeal at: https://www.adb.org/site/disclosure/appeals

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF ADB

The Accountability Mechanism is an independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an Asian Development Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Accountability Mechanism, they may investigate to assess whether the Asian Development Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can learn more about the Accountability Mechanism and how to file a complaint at: http://www.adb.org/site/accountability-mechanism/main.