NEW DELHI—September 21, 2015: World Bank Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer Sri Mulyani Indrawati arrived today on a three-day visit to India. She is accompanied by Annette Dixon, Vice President for the South Asia Region of the World Bank.
During her visit, Indrawati will meet with leaders and visit infrastructure and inclusion projects to learn about India’s development challenges and achievements, and explore opportunities for greater levels of collaboration between India and the World Bank Group.
“India’s historic transformation has lifted millions out of poverty, but enormous challenges remain. I’m looking forward to discussing India’s development experience and priorities, which offer lessons that other countries could potentially gain from,” said Indrawati. “I’m eager to explore how the World Bank Group can work together with India to improve inclusion across lines of gender and disadvantaged groups, as well as to enhance India’s urbanization transformation so that it can harness its growth to better provide jobs, housing and basic services to its people.”
The World Bank Managing Director visits India at a time when it is rapidly urbanizing, with 10 million Indians moving every year into towns and cities from rural areas. In Mumbai, Indrawati will visit the Bank supported suburban rail system to see how it serves a fast-growing, and urbanizing India. She will also meet with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendera Fadnavis, as well as women entrepreneurs hosted by the ladies’ organization of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
In Rajasthan, Indrawati will visit a Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya project in the Amer district, which provides education facilities and opportunities to girls belonging to disadvantaged groups. She will meet with the Chief Minister of Rajasthan in Jaipur and deliver a speech at the state’s National Institute of Technology on the importance for development of raising the percentage of women in the labor force, which is a low 27 percent and declining.
In Delhi, Indrawati will meet with Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley and launch a new World Bank research publication, “Leveraging Urbanization in South Asia,” which explores how India can better manage increasing urbanization and optimize its cities to provide more opportunities and a better quality of life for its people.
“A quarter of urban India currently lives in slums, with limited access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation, electricity or public transportation,” Indrawati said. “The financial and knowledge resources of the World Bank Group, can be helpful in supporting India as it strives to turn its urban centers into clean, livable cities for residents. Coupled with greater education and employment opportunities for girls and women, India has an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate poverty reduction and boost shared prosperity for all Indians.”
The World Bank Group in India:
Today, India is home to the largest operations of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Recognizing India as a key partner in ending global poverty, the International Development Association (IDA) deputies have provided Transitional IDA funds worth $3.4 billion for the next three years. For International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) lending, the single borrower limit for India has recently been increased to $20 billion from $17.5 billion, and the Government of India agreement to purchase Special Private Placement Bonds of up to $4.3 billion -- all geared to help create additional borrowing options for India.
World Bank in India
World Bank assistance to India between July 2014 and June 2015 amounted to $3.8 billion. This included $2.1 billion from IBRD, $1.7 billion from IDA. As of June 2015, total IBRD and IDA net commitments in India stood at $24.9 (IBRD $12.4 billion, IDA $13.3 billion) across 86 projects.
