The World Bank has sanctioned Rs 1,228 crore for Kerala in addition to the Rs 1,023 crore already received from it by the state, the ruling CPI(M) said on Sunday.
CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said the development comes in the wake of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's meeting with Anna Bjerde, the Managing Director (operations) of the World Bank, during his US trip.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference here, Govindan said it was an important development for Kerala as it was one of the states, which faces most number of natural disasters, has to deal with a number of communicable diseases and is significantly affected by climate changes.
The funds would help Kerala tackle such problems effectively, he noted. After Vijayan's meeting with Bjerde, a CMO statement had said that the World Bank has assured they were ready to make investments in the state's basic infrastructure sectors.
During the meeting, progress of various projects, including the Rebuild Kerala initiative which is being carried out in collaboration with the World Bank, was also discussed, the statement had said.