France bolsters India’s COVID-19 response with 200-million-euro loan
Through this loan from the French Development Agency, France will work with India to increase the state and central governments’ capacities to support the country’s most vulnerable people in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
New Delhi, 18 June 2020
France and India today signed an agreement committing 200 million euros.
The credit financing agreement was signed by Dr C.S. Mohapatra, Additional Secretary - DEA, and Mr Bruno Bosle, Director - AFD (French Development Agency) in India in the virtual presence of H.E. Mr Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India.
Through this loan, France will work with India to increase the state and central governments’ capacities to support the country’s most vulnerable people in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
The programme design, developed by the World Bank in collaboration with the Indian authorities, seeks to optimize and scale up the Indian Government’s existing social protection measures. Focusing on boosting the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna, the programme will provide further benefits to low-income families to ensure that the health, social and economic shocks arising from Covid-19 do not endanger people’s well-being or their contribution to the country’s economic growth in the long run.
The programme also seeks to protect essential frontline workers of the pandemic, including those in healthcare, sanitation, and security, by providing them with health insurance. Social assistance programmes will also be put in place for migrant workers and low-income urban households that may be unable to seek compensation under PMGKY.
Recalling the importance France attaches to facing global challenges through multilateral cooperation, the Ambassador of France to India, H.E Mr Emmanuel Lenain, said, “President Macron and Prime Minister Modi have been working together so that the excellent relations between our two countries translate into concrete cooperation in the fight against Covid-19. The Indian Government’s rollout of the PMGKY is a testament to its commitment to ensuring that the most vulnerable sections of society are protected, and it is this commitment that France, through the French Development Agency and its partners, is determined to support.”
The World Bank is the lead funder on this programme, which is supported by AFD and other multilateral and bilateral development banks.
About Agence Française de Développement
Agence Française de Développement (AFD – French Development Agency) Group is a public financial institution that finances, supports and accelerates transitions towards a more just and sustainable world. As a French overseas aid platform for sustainable development and investment, we and our partners create shared solutions, with and for the people of the global South.
AFD is working on over 4,000 projects in 115 countries, where it strives to promote health, education and gender equality, and to protect common resources with a focus on peace, biodiversity and a stable climate.
A partner of India since 2008, AFD works with Indian authorities to promote green and inclusive growth. AFD operates through loans to state and public enterprises as well as through technical assistance programmes to support sustainable urban development, energy transitions and ecological preservation in the country.