World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim to visit India

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim arrives in New Delhi tomorrow on a three-day visit to the country as it builds new momentum toward higher growth, which is required to lift its millions out of poverty.

During his visit, Kim will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Delhi.

“The historic mandate from the people of India represents a tremendous opportunity to unlock India’s growth potential and take advantage of its immense demographic dividend,” said Kim. “I look forward to meeting Prime Minister Modi and Finance Minister Jaitley to understand their development priorities, and determine how the financial and knowledge resources of the World Bank Group can be best allocated to support them.”

Kim visits India at a time when it is rapidly urbanizing, with 10 million Indians moving every year into towns and cities from the rural areas. He will visit Bank-supported project sites in Tamil Nadu to see the challenges of India’s rural-urban transformation, and how, empowered with the right skills, rural women in the state are taking advantage of emerging urban employment opportunities.    

In line with its aim to support the government’s development priorities, recent collaborative efforts between the Government of India and the World Bank Group have ensured that India continues to receive high levels of financial assistance from the World Bank Group.

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. In addition, the World Bank Group’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has successfully mobilized its $1 billion offshore rupee bond program, aimed at strengthening India’s capital markets and attracting foreign investments.

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).

World Bank Group assistance to India between July 2013 and June 2014 amounted to $6.4 billion.  This included $2 billion from IBRD, $3.1 billion from IDA, and $100 million from the Clean Technology Fund that the World Bank Group administers.  During that period, the World Bank Group’s private sector arm, IFC, committed $1.2 billion in India.

As of June 2014, total IBRD and IDA net commitments in India stood at $24.4 (IBRD $12.7 billion, IDA $11.7 billion) across 84 projects.  As of June 2014, the IFC’s India portfolio contained 239 projects, amounting to committed and disbursed exposure of $5.3 billion.