India-Japan signed 1,817 crore loan agreement for the construction of Turga Pumped Storage in West Bengal

A loan agreement was signed between India and Japan, for the construction of the Turga Pumped Storage in West Bengal.

The Rupees 1,817 crore agreement was signed by the Additional Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), C.S. Mohapatra, and Katsuo Matsumoto, chief representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The project is motivated to fortify the competence to respond to the fluctuation in supply and demand of power and to enhance the stability of power supply by constructing pumped storage facilities. This will allegedly aid in contributing to the development of industries and enhancing the standard of living in West Bengal. 

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India and Japan have shared a healthy history of bilateral development cooperation since 1958, and recently on October 28-29 PM Modi visited Japan. 

Towards the end of his two-day visit, both the countries concluded a $74 billion bilateral currency swap agreement, a step that holds the possibility to bring in far greater stability in foreign exchange and capital markets in the country

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is visiting Japan, and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe held delegation-level talks during which the two leaders discussed a range of bilateral, regional and global issues including the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

"With a view to enhancing financial and economic cooperation, governments of Japan and India welcomed the agreement to conclude a Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA) of USD 75 billion," said India-Japan Vision Statement issued after the summit-level meeting between the two leaders.

The swap agreement, a Finance Ministry's release said, should "aid in bringing greater stability to foreign exchange and capital markets in India...This facility will enable the agreed amount of foreign capital being available to India for use as and when the need arises".

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Earlier on October 29, PM Modi had engaged in talks with delegates, even addressed the Indian diaspora and presented a pitch for the “Make in India" campaign, which was launched in 2014 with the motive of refurbishing India into a global manufacturing hub. 

The visit to Japan has reflected a deepening of a bond between the two Asian countries, that also encapsulated ideas and elementals ranging from infrastructural development and telecommunications to space science and sports.