Managing for Development Results at ADB

Results Matter October 2007

Focusing on Results in the Transport Sector of India
By Narendra Singru, Evaluation Specialist, Operations Evaluation Department

ADB has assisted the transport sector of India since the start of its operations there in 1987. Roads and highways at the national, state, and rural levels have made up 75% of lending, but ADB has also invested in railways and ports, besides providing technical assistance for inland waterways

The Government of India has made efforts to modernize, expand, and integrate its transport. Notwithstanding the robust development outlook, billions of dollars are needed to sustain these efforts. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and India have worked on transport for 20 years. As of end-2006, ADB had made 25 loans totaling $5.28 billion to India’s transport sector, or about one third of ADB’s lending to the country.

Summary of Findings
ADB’s support was deemed to have been relevant to the country’s needs and to have addressed national and state concerns. The Operations Evaluation Department study found that ADB’s strategic positioning and selection of priority areas had been significant. ADB’s assistance had improved the quality of the road and railway infrastructure, contributing to promoting policy development, institutional strengthening, private sector participation and compliance, and public awareness of social safeguards. The main weaknesses identified were poor project designs, delays in enforcing safeguards, and lack of progress in addressing some key policy issues, particularly in the railways sector.

Improving Project Implementation
The study advocated continued support to the roads and highways projects and made recommendations for improving project implementation:

• ADB must work closely with executing agencies to resolve problems that lead to implementation delays, at both project and strategic levels.
• ADB should give at least equal emphasis to good portfolio management and volume of loan approval.
• ADB must find ways to match the number and quality of staff to the increasing level of transport operations and ensure that they have adequate and appropriate experience and skills.
• Quality-at-entry must be improved. Project designs must take into account local variation in implementation capabilities and make better use of past experience to improve the design of future projects.

What Should Be Prioritized?
The study also made recommendations for prioritizing ADB’s strategic positioning:

• ADB support for reforms promoting private sector involvement should continue at a higher level.
• ADB should engage the Government and Indian Railways in policy dialogue to rework the agenda and identify a road map for developing further commercial orientation in operations.
• ADB should conduct more intensive policy dialogue on, and work with the Government to develop action plans for, (i) road safety, (ii) sector governance and corruption, (iii) institutional coordination, (iv) climate change, and (v) socially inclusive objectives. Road maps should refer to social parameters to be mainstreamed into project designs with indicators. Advisory technical assistance could be leveraged to support each theme.

(Excerpted from OED’s report “Sector Assistance Program Evaluation of the Transport Sector in India”)

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