India supporting 65 community projects in Maldives worth $23 m

PTI | New Delhi

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Male: India is supporting 65 community development projects worth $23 million in the Maldives and steady progress has been achieved in implementing them, the Indian mission said here on Thursday.

Of the 47 High Impact Community Development Projects in Maldives under grant aid by the Government of India approved till November 2023, as many as eight are already completed.

Notwithstanding the diplomatic row in recent times, India is supporting 65 community development projects worth MVR 360 million ($23 million) in the archipelagic nation, the High Commission of India said.

“While the grant is being provided by the Indian government, the projects are selected in order of priority as set by the Maldivian government.

Implementation of these projects are also undertaken by institutions appointed by the Maldives government”, news portal Edition.mv said.

“Happy to note steady progress of Greater Male Connectivity Project, being implemented with Indian grant and concessional credit @USD 500 million.

GMCP is a transformational infrastructure project which will stimulate economic growth and improve ease of living in Maldives”, The Indian High Commission posted on its official X handle on Wednesday.

The post on X came after Maldives’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the High Commission of India in Maldives held a two-day meeting to review the ongoing projects when it was discussed that even as eight projects are completed, the rest of the High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) remain at different levels of progress.

These include a wide variety of projects spread throughout the atolls. Some initiatives included are the establishment of fish processing plants, drug detoxification centres, cultural centres, youth centres and sports complexes, Edition.mv reported.

Ambassador at Large Ahmed Naseer and High Commissioner of India to Maldives Munu Mahawar co-chaired the meeting, which saw the participation of senior government officials and other stakeholders.