India : JBM Haryana Electric Bus Financing Project

Project Name

JBM Haryana Electric Bus Financing Project

Project Number

58098-001

Country / Economy

• India

Location

Haryana

Type or Modality of Assistance

Operational Priorities

• OP1: Addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities
• OP2: Accelerating progress in gender equality
• OP3: Tackling climate change, building climate and disaster resilience, and enhancing environmental sustainability
• OP4: Making cities more livable

Sector / Subsector

• Transport / Urban public transport

Gender

Gender equity theme

Project Sponsor(s)

Objectives and Scope

Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy

Safeguard Categories

Environment

B

Involuntary Resettlement

B

Indigenous Peoples

C

Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects

Environmental Aspects

The potential environmental impacts from the use of ADB loan proceeds, particularly on the operation and maintenance of the electric buses, are related to hazardous waste generation from e-bus parts for replacement, wastewater from cleaning and maintenance, and occupational and community health and safety. No part of the proceeds will be used for any construction activities at the existing depots except for minor civil works for the installation of charging infrastructure and construction of new depots that are likely to cause no significant adverse potential environmental impacts. Three out of the nine depot locations are known and have been subjected to due diligence but yet to be formally allocated and turned over to the projects. As such, Borrower has developed an environmental assessment and review framework (EARF) to cover identified and future depots.

Involuntary Resettlement

The project will be allocated nine depots by the State Transport Undertakings (STU) of Haryana. Three are known, screened, and audited: Panchkula is a vacant government lot beside an existing operational depot, Jagadhri is an existing and operating bus terminal being renovated to become a bus depot, and Panipat is an operation depot with the terminal already transferred to a new location to make way for the project. Based on the audit, the three known sites are free from any involuntary resettlement impacts; however, there are six remaining depots that are yet to be screened and audited. In compliance with SR2, a resettlement framework was developed to anticipate potential involuntary resettlement impacts of the depot land allocation for the project which may include informal land users and structures, temporary access restrictions and economic displacement of informal businesses around the depot area during construction/renovation. Once allotted, a site visit and audit of the depots will be done by a consultant to assess site conditions, ascertain impacts, and consult with project-affected people, if any. A full-blown resettlement plan will be required if IR impacts are identified on site.

Indigenous Peoples

The project is not foreseen to have impacts as bus operations and depots are in urban areas. The state of Haryana does not have notified Fifth Schedule Areas per the Indian government.

Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation

The borrower has adopted the corporate stakeholder engagement policy of the Sponsor. At present, the stakeholder engagement activities are mainly catered to investors, business partners, regulators, shareholders and customers. Further improvement of the stakeholder engagement policy is needed to include other stakeholders such as drivers, passengers and civil society. Moreover, procedures and processes from stakeholder needs assessment, mapping, programming, disclosure, documentation and monitoring and review will be developed.

On grievance management, an internal grievance system for employees is in place but does not extend to contractors and non-regular employees. The anonymity of the complainant is not captured in the policy. For external grievances, there is no defined system. However, per the concession agreement with the STU partner, the Borrower must establish and operate a central control to register complaints and public grievances in relation to the bus services undertaken by the operator. Passengers can also file a complaint through a complaint register on the buses. The system for this is yet to be developed by the borrower.

Contact

Responsible ADB Officer

Kaur, Japnit

Responsible ADB Division

Infrastructure Finance Division 1

Responsible ADB Department

Private Sector Operations Department

Timetable for assistance design, processing, and implementation

Concept Clearance

11 Jul 2024

Credit Committee Meeting

11 Jul 2024

Approval

01 Aug 2024

Last PDS Update

05 Jul 2024