India, Sept. 11 -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the union government signed a $126.42 million loan agreement on Wednesday to promote rural development through sustainable and climate-resilient tourism in the Tehri Lake region of Uttarakhand, the finance ministry said on Thursday.

"The ADB loan supports the government of Uttarakhand's policy to position the state as a diversified, all-weather tourism destination, with Tehri Lake identified as a priority area for development," joint secretary in the finance ministry's department of economic affairs (DEA), Juhi Mukherjee, said.

The project is a model of sustainable tourism anchored around a hydropower lake by adopting a multisector approach to generate jobs, diversify income, and b...