New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) The World Bank Friday extended a $130 million loan to India that will be used to fund rural development programmes in the North East region of the country.

The money will be used to fund the North East Rural Livelihoods Project, which aims to enhance livelihoods of the rural poor, especially women, unemployed youth and the severely disadvantaged people in the North East region, the finance ministry said in a statement here.

Eight districts of four states — Aizawl and Lunglei in Mizoram; Peren and Tuensang in Nagaland; South, West and 15 Panchayat wards of East District in Sikkim; and West and North Districts in Tripura will be covered under the project.

The agreements for the North East Rural Livelihoods Project (NERLP) were signed here by Venu Rajamony, joint secretary in the department of economic affairs, on behalf of the government of India, D.L. Wankhar, project director on behalf of the North East Rural Livelihoods Project, and Roberto Zagha, World Bank country director in India.

“The project seeks to develop an institutional platform for the communities, which will help them link up with the private sector, public sector, and civil society and to acquire the institutional, technical, and financial capacity needed for improving their livelihoods,” according to official statement released after signing of the agreement.

Loan will be extended by the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm the International Development Association. The concessional credit has a final maturity of 25 years, including 5-year grace period.