Ex-ante Evaluation Paper (for Japanese ODA Loan)
South Asia Division 1, South Asia Department, JICA
1. Name of the Program
Country: India
Program: Program for Japan-India Cooperative Actions towards Sustainable
Development Goals in India
Loan Agreement: January 18, 2019
2. Background and Necessity of the Program(1) Current State and Issues of SDGs-related Development in India and thePositioning of this Program
Although India’s efforts on the Millennium Development Goals (hereinafter, “MDGs”),
which were set to be attained by 2015, resulted in the nation making improvements
towards many of the goals, it became evident that the country was still beset withsocial development issues common to numerous developing nations, such assanitation, education and health.
The Government of India has recognized that continuous effort is required to achieve
the Sustainable Development Goals (hereinafter, “SDGs”), launched and adopted by
all United Nations member states in 2016 as the successor to the MDGs, initiating atotal of 17 goals. The National Institution for Transforming India (hereinafter, “NITIAayog”), an entity established in 2015, is leading efforts to achieve the SDGs,specifying government agencies of jurisdiction on a goal-by-goal basis while making alist of relevant initiatives and schemes for the Government of India. The Governmentof India has been making great efforts to achieve the SDGs, as evidenced by the fact
that, at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development held by the United
Nations in July 2017, the country became a Voluntary National Review state andannounced plans to achieve goals that were set as the themes of the year’s forum. In
addition, targeting regions making slow progression towards the SDGs, NITI Aayog
monitors the state of achievement in fields that have greatly diverged from their goals(health & nutrition, education, agriculture & water resources, financial inclusion & skill
development and basic infrastructure) monthly, while striving to achieve SDGs acrossthe entire country.
The Program for Japan-India Cooperative Actions towards Sustainable Development
Goals in India (hereinafter, the “Program”) is one of the initiatives intended to promote
SDGs efforts in India by strengthening and assisting the framework and execution
platform for various SDGs-related policies in the country, thereby contributing toachieving the SDGs in 2030.

(2) Japan’s and JICA’s SDGs Cooperation Policy and the Positioning of this Program
Japan’s Country Assistance Policy for India (March 2016) stipulates that, in order forfast economic growth in India to be sustainable, Japan should provide assistance
conducive to mitigating poverty and developing social sectors. The Program isrelegated to priority areas such as the cooperation program for Assistance for
Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, the Agriculture and Farming Area Development
Program, the Program to Improve Basic Social Service and the Program for Water
Supply & Sewage and Sanitation Improvement and Pollution Management. Points ofnote in the policy state that Japan will pay attention to gradually promote an approachthat provides assistance on account of policy action progress set in a policy matrix
which is mutually agreed, periodically monitored and reviewed with India via close andcontinued policy dialogue, since doing so will contribute to raising ownership in thecountry. The Program is also intended to promote the SDGs Prioritization forDevelopment Cooperation and the SDGs Implementation Platform Assistance toDeveloping Countries, which constitute specific measures of SDGs implementationguidelines of Government of Japan.
The JICA Country Analysis Paper for India (March 2018) concludes that it will be
important to put a priority on the principal development issues with strong financial
needs and for which Japan’s and JICA’s strengths would seemingly be leveraged, as
well as to comprehensively assist India’s efforts on the SDGs. The paper also
specifies contributions for the Government of India’s nationwide operation programs
as one approach to development issues JICA must work on, adding that it willconsider giving feedback from its practical experiences in past ODA loan projects tocentral government agencies through a program loan initiative etc., thus contributing
to their key policies. Moreover, setting inclusive growth in farming areas as a principal
development issue, the paper says JICA will provide assistance aimed to deliver
sustainable and inclusive growth to rural areas inhabited by many low-income earners,
meaning the Program is consistent with the policy and analysis discussed above.
(3) Other Donors’ Activities
In a report titled “Country Partnership Framework for India for FY18-FY22,” the WorldBank specified the following as priority areas: i) promoting resource-efficient growth;ii) enhancing competitiveness and enabling job creation; and iii) investing in humancapital. The bank provides assistance for India’s economic growth as well as forthemes such as health and education, points of slow progression for the nation’sSDGs. In a report titled “Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), 2018-2022,” the AsianDevelopment Bank expressed an intention to assist India’s efforts to achieve theSDGs, and set three pillars comprising: i) boosting economic competitiveness tocreate more and better jobs; ii) providing inclusive access to infrastructure networks

and services; and (iii) addressing climate change and increasing climate resilience.
3. Program Description(1) Program Objective
To promote SDGs efforts in India’s social development by strengthening andassisting the framework of various policies and implementation platforms for theSDGs, thereby contributing to achieving the SDGs in 2030.
(2) Program Site/Target Area
All of India(3) Program Components
Based on consultations with NITI Aayog, policy actions in five fields prioritized by theentity and identified as policy matrix pillars are set. Shown below are examples oftypical achievement goals and policy actions

Theme
Overall/Partnerships

GlobalHealth and Nutrition

Education

Agriculture
ResourcesandWaterAchievement goal (2030)
Main policy actions during the term of the program(FY 2017/2018 to FY 2019/2020)
Build a structure to monitor the state of SDGs
achievement by the central government of India
Check the state of achievement of SDGs metrics on aregion-by-region basis for the entire country before
analyzing regions with a low achievement rate
Provide medical care to all pregnant women
Give children full immunization
Install a cooperation platform intended to expand
ante-natal care and immunization facilities andperform awareness raising activities for preventive
injections
Increase percentage of learning outcomes inmathematics of grade 3 in elementary school
Supply electricity to all secondary schools
Launch a survey to analyze issues related to school
grades and reflect the results to improve them

Raise the share of high value crops

Launch a special mission aimed to expand theplanting area for high value crops
Select best practices for raising the share of highvalue crops and disseminate the cases across thecountry
Increase the number of bank accounts
Improve the employment rate of youths who haveFinancial Inclusion and 
Skill Development
taken skill training coursesBasic InfrastructureAppoint a nodal person in each district for thepurpose of increasing the number of opened bankaccounts
Introduce a structure to keep track of the state ofemployment of youths who have taken skill training
courses
Increase the number of internet connected villages
Supply a sufficient volume of drinking water in ruralareas
Identify villages without internet connectivity andprovide Wi-Fi services at one or more government
agency buildings in each village
Introduce a community participation structure in orderto accelerate the provision of drinking water(4) Estimated Program Cost
ODA loan amount: 15,000 million yen(5) ScheduleFinancial assistance for the Program commences in April 2017. The policy actions
are aimed to be achieved in March 2018, March 2019 and March 2020. Whether thepolicy actions for each fiscal year are achieved will be checked by the Program
Monitoring Committee (hereinafter the “PMC”) in the subsequent fiscal year, following
which a loan will be provided. Program completion is defined as the completion dateof loan provision (scheduled for June 2020).
(6) Program Implementation Structure1) Borrower: President of India
2) Guarantor: None
3) Executing Agency: NITI Aayog
4) Operation and Maintenance Agency: None
(7) Collaboration with Other Schemes and Donors
1) Related aid activities by Japan: None in particular.
2) Aid activities of other aid organizations: None in particular.
(8) Environmental and Social Considerations/Poverty Reduction and SocialDevelopment
1) Environmental and Social Considerations(i) Category: C(ii) Categorization Rationale: The negative impact on the environment from thisProgram is considered negligible under the ‘JICA Guidelines for Environmentaland Social Considerations’ (promulgated in April 2010).
2) Cross-cutting Items(i) Climate change related matters:
This Program will be conducive to climate change adaptation control
measures (auxiliary objective) since it will encourage increases in theharvest ratio for agricultural crops for which climate change-induced effects
are considered in one of the policy actions (agriculture and waterresources).
(ii) Poverty reduction and considerations:This Program falls under a poverty control measure program given that it
will assist regions showing particularly slow progression towards achieving
the SDGs and encourage implementing skill training courses that will help
increase the number of people opening bank accounts and lead toemployment in one of the policy actions (financial inclusion and skilldevelopment).
3) Gender Classification: GI (S) Gender Informed (Significant) Program<Activities/Classification Rationale> This Program falls under the criteria
for a gender informed (significant) program due to its efforts to streamline
medical facilities providing care to expectant and nursing mothers in one ofthe policy actions (health and nutrition).
(9) Other Important Issues
JICA will deliver increased project effectiveness and aim to achieve the SDGs by:i) stating in a policy matrix the formulation and execution of Japan-India Cooperative
Actions on which to continually consult with the Indian government; and ii) executing
the Program. This is an effort to leverage Japan’s technologies and past project
lessons for promoting SDGs efforts in India in fields targeted by the Program andthose for which results were attained.
4. Target Outcomes(1) Quantitative Effects
1) Outcomes (Operation and Effect Indicators)
Indicator[Health and Nutrition]

Baseline
Target(Actual value at the(The end of FY 2019)end of FY 2016)

Percentage of pregnant women receiving
ante natal check-ups for more than 4 times

64%

75%

Percentage of 9 to 11 months children fully
immunized

89%

95%

Percentage of learning outcomes inmathematics of grade 3 in elementaryschool

62%

75%

Percentage of secondary schools withelectricity connection

84%

95%

15%

20%

Percentage of the population with bankaccounts

32%

40%

Employment percentage of youths who tookskill training courses

18%

25%

38%

55%

82%

90%

[Education][Agriculture and Water Resources]
Percentage of high value crops[Financial inclusion and Skill Development][Basic Infrastructure]
Percentage
connectivityofvillages

withinternet

Percentage of population in rural areas
with access to adequate quantity ofpotable water(2) Qualitative effects
The qualitative effects of the Program will include the enhancement of a system tomonitor the state of SDGs achievement by the central government of India, thepromotion of Japan-India cooperation such as SDGs-related technical inputting byJapan and the enhancement of government agency staff skills in the SDGs.
(3) Internal Rate of ReturnNot calculated.
5. External Factors and Risk Control(1)(2)

Preconditions: None in particular
External factors: None in particular

6. Lessons Learned from Past Programs and Applications to the Program
Based on the ex-post evaluation results of the Republic of Indonesia-implementedClimate Change Program Loan (I through III), it is important to limit the number ofoperation and effect indicators in order to minimize government costs, as well as
choose indicators designed to gauge program results over indicators intended tomonitor the achievement of policy actions. In addition, continued policy dialogue on
program monitoring is a significant factor for attaining success for the Program. In
Tamil Nadu Investment Promotion Program, an ODA loan program for India, policy
monitoring and coordination among stakeholders including private companies weredone through loan account technical assistance, and such technical assistance wasfound to be effective for checking the smooth progress of policy actions and promotingexecution.
In the Program, a government agency of jurisdiction should be allowed to monitor theindicators of operation and effect periodically, and results to be achieved as a result ofpolicy actions should be set as indicators, in addition to limiting the number of them.
JICA is now considering inputting policies on target fields associated with its past
projects, through holding events such as the PMC and an opinion exchange forum
between Japan and India. In addition, JICA will check the structure and state ofcooperation with the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), an ODA loan receipt
interface, by taking the opportunity of a PMC meeting.
7. Evaluation Results
This Program, intended to assist India in achieving its SDGs through improving its
SDGs-related policies, is judged to be consistent with the country’s development
policies and Japan’s country assistance policy for India. Moreover, the Program isdesigned to assist the central government of India in introducing a structure to monitor
the state of its SDGs achievement and shoring up regions that are particularly slow inachieving the SDGs, as an initiative aimed to attain the SDGs across the country.
Given that the Program will likely contribute to attaining 11 SDGs (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10 and 13) through assistance across five fields (health & nutrition, education,agriculture & water resources, financial inclusion and skill development, and basicinfrastructure) as well as goal 17 through improving the means and structure ofimplementation, the need for JICA to support the implementation of this Program ishigh.
8. Plan for Future Evaluation(1) Indicators to be Used
As indicated in sections 4. (1) to (3)(2) Timing of the Next Evaluation
At the time of program completion