The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has approved a loan of $165 million for a power distribution system upgrade and expansion in Bangladesh.

The bank today approved four loans, totaling $509 million, for projects in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Tajikistan, a press release issued in this regard said.

The loan is designed to expand electricity coverage by providing 2.5 million new service connections in rural areas and convert 85 circuit-km overhead distribution lines into underground cables in northern Dhaka, it said.

It is expected to benefit 12.5 million people in rural areas and create a significant and sustained impact on economic and social dimensions of rural development, it said.

The other approved loans are:

- A $216.5 million loan for a National Slum Upgrading Project in Indonesia, expected to be co-financed with the World Bank

- A $100 million loan to finance the Shorkot-Khanewal Section of National Motorway M-4 in Pakistan, co-financed with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID)

- A $27.5 million loan for the Dushanbe-Uzbekistan Border Road Improvement Project in Tajikistan, co-financed with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

"I am delighted to announce that AIIB's Board of Directors has today – just six months after the Bank's inauguration -- approved the first group of loans," said AIIB's President Jin Liqun.

"These projects, which span the energy, urban development and transport sectors, will help bridge the region's critical infrastructure financing gap and strengthen regional connectivity," he said.