World Bank chief reviews Mumbai Urban Transport Project

World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who is on his three-day visit to India, has reviewed the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP).

Mumbai, Nov 2 : World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who is on his three-day visit to India, has reviewed the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP).

He visited the resettlement site of the MUTP, launched in 2002 with 1.2 billion dollars from the World Bank.

"Zoellick talked to all the stakeholders including the people who had been shifted, the commercial establishments that had been shifted, to the school children and to the teachers and everybody who are staying here. And he got a very positive response from the people," said Milind Mhaiskar, joint metropolitan commissioner and project director, MUTP.

Zoellick's visit, his first to India since assuming charge at the World Bank, is aimed at taking stock of World Bank-aided programmes in India.

Maharashtra has the second largest World Bank programme among Indian states.The World Bank is providing a loan of 542 million dollars for the MUTP project with the remaining amount to be covered by the Indian government.

The project will work on providing new rail lines, bigger bridges to ease the city's traffic congestion, besides providing better housing for millions of slum dwellers living in makeshift huts along railway lines and roads.

"We gave him a presentation about Mumbai and MUTP. What are its strength, weakness, and what are the directions of our efforts. He appreciated that to a great extent, the efforts that are being taken," said Mhaiskar.

Zoellick also met Reserve Bank of India Governor Y. Venugopal Reddy.

Zoellick will also meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi.

Since 1997, the bank's India strategy has focused on states attempting reforms, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

ANI