Asheville, Sep 2 (IANS) India and the World Bank Group have discussed expanding their partnership beyond traditional lending, with a sharper focus on infrastructure finance, digital public infrastructure, tourism and the mobilisation of private capital.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met World Bank Group President Ajay Banga on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, according to a statement issued after the meeting.

Sitharaman welcomed the World Bank Group’s continued engagement with India. She acknowledged the speedy processing of $1.5 billion in Development Policy Financing, the statement said.

The finance minister also welcomed the International Finance Corporation’s support for micro, small and medium enterprises through the Small Industries Development Bank of India.

According to the statement, the assistance was processed in record time and has had a positive impact on India’s MSME sector.

The meeting focused on ways to strengthen the India-World Bank Group partnership and widen the use of the institution’s financing tools.

The two leaders discussed a larger role for the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency in India. The proposed engagement would seek to deepen the country’s corporate, infrastructure and municipal bond markets through the systematic use of guarantees and greater mobilisation of private capital.

They also considered a sector-based, programmatic approach to credit enhancement for infrastructure. Such an arrangement would expand the partnership’s focus from individual projects to broader programmes across key sectors.

Banga noted the significant transformation of India’s infrastructure, the statement said. He also pointed to opportunities for using the World Bank Group’s instruments more extensively to support India’s development ambitions.

The discussion included a possible expansion of MIGA’s engagement in India and the use of political risk insurance for Indian companies investing overseas.

Sitharaman also raised India’s work with the World Bank Group on establishing a Global Digital Public Infrastructure Knowledge Hub in the country.

The proposed hub would explore ways to use technology in sectors including agriculture. The finance minister looked forward to early progress towards its launch, according to the statement.

Tourism was another area of discussion. Sitharaman proposed developing globally competitive tourism destinations under the new India-World Bank Group Country Partnership Framework.

The initiative would follow a coordinated model. It would combine policy and infrastructure support from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, private-sector investment from the IFC and guarantees from MIGA.

The meeting also addressed the broader direction of the relationship. The two sides discussed moving it from a conventional lender-borrower arrangement towards a strategic platform for global knowledge, innovation and private capital mobilisation.

Under that approach, India’s scale and implementation capacity would be combined with the World Bank Group’s international expertise and range of financing instruments.

–IANS

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