Asian Development Bank
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New Delhi: The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday signed a Rs 2,972 crore ($350 million) policy-based loan pact under a programme of strengthening multimodal and integrated logistics ecosystem (SMILE), an official statement said.
The signatories to the loan agreement were Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance; Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), and the ADB.
SMILE is a programmatic policy-based loan (PBL) programme to support the government in undertaking wide-ranging reforms in the logistics sector in India, the statement said.
The programme establishes and operationalises a comprehensive policy framework to enhance logistics efficiency through strengthening the institutional bases for multimodal logistics infrastructure development at the national, state, and city levels; and standardising warehousing and other logistics assets to strengthen supply chains and incentivize greater private sector investment, it added.