The World Bank has approved a $1bn loan to help clean the Ganga River as part of the Indian Government's river upgrade programme. The National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) will use the funds to reduce river pollution on the five mainstem states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The project will enable the authority to set up agencies at federal and state level to plan, manage and implement the NGRBA programme, including setting up a Ganga Knowledge Centre. The project will also help build the capacity of existing agencies responsible for operating and managing pollution-control assets such as wastewater and sewage treatment plants and sewer networks. The National Ganga River Basin Project received $115m from the Indian Government and $430m from the state governments of the Ganga mainstem states.
