India, WB ink 40 mln USD loan pact for tourism project

NEW DELHI, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- India has inked a 40 million U.S. dollars loan pact with the World Bank for a tourism development project in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

The agreement for Uttar Pradesh Pro-Poor Tourism Development Project was signed between Sameer Kumar Khare, joint secretary of India's economic affairs department, and John Blomquist, Acting Country Director of World Bank, in the national capital Thursday.

The 57.14 million U. S. dollars project aims at increasing tourism-related benefits for local communities in Uttar Pradesh, the country's largest state, according to Indian finance ministry.

Of the total cost of the five-year project, 40 million U.S. dollars will be financed by the World Bank, and the remaining amount will be funded out of the state budget, the Indian finance ministry said in a statement.

"The project is expected to have far-reaching social, economic and environmental benefits by targeting local communities and entrepreneurs near some of the main tourist and pilgrimage attractions in Uttar Pradesh," the statement added. Enditem