Karnataka, ADB Sign ₹1,750 Crore Funding Agreement to Develop 500 Government Schools as KPS by 2029-30
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed an agreement under which the bank will provide ₹1,750 crore to support the development of 500 government schools as Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) over the next four years, School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa said.
Under the plan, the state government will spend a total of ₹2,500 crore to develop the 500 KPS schools by 2029-30. Of this, ADB will provide ₹1,750 crore, while the remaining ₹750 crore will be contributed by the Karnataka government.
Officials of the School Education Department and ADB signed the agreement at Vidhana Soudha. According to the release, the signing took place in the presence of D.K. Shivakumar and School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa.
Schools with the potential to attract a larger number of students are being selected for upgradation as KPS institutions. The government aims to create capacity for at least 1,200 students in each school and comprehensively develop all 500 institutions with ADB assistance.
Bangarappa said the project would be implemented over four years and completed by 2029-30. He said he had held discussions with senior ADB officials and finalised the agreement before its signing.
According to the minister, this is the first time ADB is extending financial assistance of this scale to India’s education sector. He said ADB officials had reviewed Karnataka’s KPS programme, implementation measures and the state’s commitment to improving the quality of education before announcing the assistance.
Bangarappa said initiatives including bilingual education, the ‘Nirantara’ programme for recording student attendance, recruitment of 15,000 teachers, continuous teacher training, recruitment of computer science teachers, preparations to introduce artificial intelligence education, vocational and skill education, and plans to provide safe transport for rural children contributed to the agreement.
The minister said detailed project reports have already been prepared for developing 100 government schools as KPS institutions. Schools proposed for upgradation have also been identified and are being selected on the basis of defined criteria.
Bangarappa said ADB has already provided 15 per cent of its assistance, amounting to ₹262.5 crore. It is scheduled to provide 20.5 per cent, or ₹358.75 crore, in 2026-27; 22 per cent, or ₹385 crore, in 2027-28; 21.5 per cent, or ₹376.25 crore, in 2028-29; and the remaining 21 per cent, or ₹367.5 crore, in 2029-30.
ADB Country Director Mio Oka, Principal Portfolio Management Specialist Kai Wei Yeo, Senior Project Officer for Education Poonam S. Bhambri, Principal Communications Officer Rajesh Kumar Deol and Executive Assistant Poornima Prasad were among those present.
Chief Minister’s Economic Adviser L.K. Atheeq, Additional Chief Secretary of the School Education and Literacy Department Rashmi V. Mahesh, Department of Economic Affairs Deputy Secretary Saurabh Singh and senior officials of ADB and the School Education Department also attended the programme.
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