The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $400 million loan to India on Oct 25 as part of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) 2.0.

Subprogram 2 of the Sustainable Urban Development and Service Delivery program aims to support the government's efforts through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoUHA) to improve urban infrastructure and provide basic urban services such as water supply, sanitation, and transportation.

Amrut, a flagship program launched in June 2015 in 500 cities across the country with the goal of transforming the urban Indian landscape, focuses on providing every household with access to water supply and sewage connection. Amrut 2.0 was launched in 2021.

"The national flagship program of Amrut 2.0 is targeted at universal access to water supply and sanitation and to ensure urban water security through reducing water losses, recycling treated sewage for non-domestic use, rejuvenation of water bodies, and maintaining sustainable groundwater levels," Sanjay Joshi, the chairman of the Asian Development Bank, said

While ADB provided a loan of $350 million under Subprogram 1 in 2021, the loan amount has been increased to $400 million under Subprogram 2.

The program also emphasizes measures such as building bylaw modernization, land pooling, urban agglomeration, and comprehensive urban mobility planning through transit-oriented development those urban local bodies (ULBs) can implement to transform cities into well-planned economic growth hubs.