Inspection Panel process will not affect ‘Amaravati’: WB

Yet to take a call on project’s due diligence, it clarifies

The World Bank on Monday said its Board was yet to take a view whether there were sufficient grounds for the Inspection Panel (IP) to probe the process of due diligence of the Amaravati Sustainable Capital City Development Project (ASCCDP).

The WB observed that a report of the IP pertaining to a request to investigate the compliance with its internal policies concerning the ASCCDP was inadvertently released into the public domain before it had been reviewed by the Board of Executive Directors.

In a statement, the Bank clarified that the IP process did not affect the project preparation or the implementation and in the case of the ASCCDP it would continue to work with the Andhra Pradesh government to strengthen the preparation and design of the Bank-financed investments as per the agreed schedule.

It pointed out that the IP’s mandate was to examine the WB’s compliance with its own institutional policies and not the activities of any government agency or programme. The press communiqué said the IP was an independent mechanism of the WB meant to enhance accountability of the institution’s development work and any project-affected individual or group who might be under the belief that the WB had not complied with its own policies could approach the IP to voice their grievance and request an investigation. Some residents of Amaravati wrote to the IP claiming to be negatively impacted by the process of assembling land for the city and by the project activities.

If the Board approved an investigation into such claims, the IP would examine the compliance and submit a report to the Board. This process might take several months.

The WB is preparing an IBRD loan of $300 million for the proposed ASCCDP, which would be co-financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to the extent of $200 million.

According to the press release, the WB is expected to fund the creation of urban infrastructure, including an initial road-grid network of about 145 km and flood mitigation work in selected locations in Amaravati. It is also to help in upgrading infrastructure in some of the 24 villages to integrate them fully with the capital region.