New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a loan of $20 million for the development of tourism infrastructure in Sikkim, the tourism ministry said here Thursday.

‘A loan assistance of $20.0 million from ADB has been negotiated for South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development Project for Sikkim,’ the ministry said in statement.

For the past three years and the current year, the multilateral lender has provided $23.5 million for the development of tourism infrastructure in the country.

Under the Projects Preparatory Technical Assistance (PPTA), the bank has provided $0.5 million in the last three years for a nation-wide project processing and capacity development study.

It has provided another PPTA of $1 million as grant for Inclusive Tourism Infrastructure Development Project (ITIDP) for Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The bank has provided $2 million under the Regional Economic Technical Assistance (RETA) for improving connectivity to the natural and cultural tourist attractions in the Northeastern state of Sikkim.