Minister of Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath has sought World Bank loans for training the manpower in the country.

Kamal Nath has sought the World Bank's assistance for strengthening National Institute for Training of Highway Engineers, to make it an Asian hub and a centre of excellence, an official statement said.

However, the amount of assistance is yet to be worked out.

The matter came up during Naths discussions with World Bank President Robert Zoellick on issues relating to capacity building and institutional strengthening for faster implementation of Indian road projects on Wednesday in Singapore.

NITHE, located in Noida near Delhi, is the apex body under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways for training and capacity building in the road sector.

A 'technical assistance' loan of $45 million has already been tied up with the World Bank for the purpose of capacity building and institutional strengthening of National Highways Authority of India.

Nath further discussed the issue of 'viability gap funding' by the Bank for PPP projects, for which the ministry is seeking a loan of $2 billion from it.