Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda and PM Narendra Modi meet in Delhi on May 31, 2025.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced a five-year plan to invest up to $10 billion in India’s urban infrastructure, with a focus on metro rail expansion, regional rapid transit corridors (RRTS), and city-level services such as water, sanitation, and housing.
ADB President Masato Kanda, during his visit to India, said the plan will combine sovereign loans, private sector funding, and third-party capital. The investment will support India’s urbanisation strategy as the country aims to improve infrastructure in anticipation of more than 40 percent of its population living in cities by 2030.
After a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kanda said the initiative will back projects that improve connectivity and urban services. The funding will be routed in part through India’s Urban Challenge Fund (UCF), which aims to attract private capital for city infrastructure. ADB will also provide $3 million in technical assistance to help design viable projects and support local governments.
ADB has been involved in urban projects in over 110 Indian cities across 22 states, covering sectors like water supply, solid-waste management, sanitation, and housing. Its current urban portfolio includes 27 active loans amounting to $5.15 billion.
On urban transport, ADB has committed $4 billion in the past decade for metro and RRTS projects, spanning about 300 km in eight cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Chennai, and Bengaluru.
Kanda also held meetings with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal to discuss expanding metro networks, integrating transit-oriented development (TOD), and increasing rooftop solar capacity. Discussions also included scaling the Urban Challenge Fund and replicating existing urban transport models in other regions.
During his visit, Kanda inspected the ADB-supported Delhi–Meerut RRTS corridor and met with beneficiaries of skill development programs linked to infrastructure projects. He also visited renewable energy firm ReNew in Gurugram and held a roundtable with corporate leaders from sectors including infrastructure, finance, and energy.
Under its 2023–2027 country strategy, ADB has committed to providing more than $5 billion in annual financing to India, including up to $1 billion in non-sovereign lending to support private sector investments.
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As of April 2025, ADB’s total sovereign lending to India stands at $59.5 billion, with $9.1 billion in non-sovereign investments. Its active portfolio includes 81 loans worth $16.5 billion.
Founded in 1966, ADB is a multilateral development bank with 69 member countries, including 50 from the Asia-Pacific region.