The Notes were exchanged today between Mr. Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India and Mr. Suzuki Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan to India for Patna Metro Rail Construction Project (I) of JPY 98.612 billion (Rs. 5,509 crore approx.), Project for Forest and Biodiversity Conservation for Climate Change Response in West Bengal of JPY 9.308 billion (Rs. 520 crore approx..) and Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project (II) of JPY 18.894 billion (Rs. 1,055.53 crore approx.).

Patna Metro Rail Construction Project aims to cope with the increase of traffic demand in Patna by constructing the new metro corridor 1 & 2, thereby contributing to improvement of the urban environment and development of the economy as well as mitigation of climate change.

Project for Forest and Biodiversity Conservation for Climate Change Response in West Bengal aims to mitigate and adapt to climate change, conserve and restore ecosystems by ecosystem based climate change measures, biodiversity conservation and restoration, livelihood improvement activities and institutional strengthening, thereby contributing to sustainable socio-economic development in State.

Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project aims to improve livelihoods of farmers as well as promote gender mainstreaming in agriculture and irrigation sector in the State, by improving water use efficiency and agriculture productivity, through improvement of existing irrigation facilities and agriculture support services based on participation of both male and female farmers, thereby contributing to socio-economic development in the State. This is tranche-II loan for the project.

India and Japan have had a long and fruitful history of bilateral development cooperation since 1958. In the last few years, the economic cooperation between India and Japan has steadily progressed. This further consolidates and strengthens the Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan.

Official Development Assistance extends concessional loans for metro, forest conservation, and water-sector livelihood projects to support sustainable development. Japan provides Official Development Assistance (ODA) to India through concessional loans for three projects: Patna Metro Rail Construction to build two metro corridors for traffic management and climate mitigation; a West Bengal forest and biodiversity conservation project focused on ecosystem-based climate measures, biodiversity restoration, livelihood improvement and institutional strengthening; and Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project (tranche II) to upgrade irrigation, improve water-use efficiency, boost agricultural productivity and promote gender-inclusive livelihoods.