Telangana seeks World Bank assistance for urban mission program in PURE and RARE regions

The Telangana government is said to be asking the World Bank for help for the Telangana Urban and Jobs Transformation Program | Photo credit: M. VENKAT RAO

The Government of Telangana is actively working to secure loans from multilateral agencies to fund its urban development programmes.

The government is reportedly seeking World Bank assistance for the Telangana Urban Transformation and Jobs Program, part of India’s multi-phase urban finance programmatic approach (MPA) to improve municipal finance systems, strengthen governance capacity and improve access to commercial finance. The project envisages strengthening the institutional and financial capacity of urban local bodies, including access to market financing and improving climate-resilient urban infrastructure in selected cities in the state.

The project, which involves an estimated US$430 million (approximately ₹4,000 crore), will have the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development extend a Program for Results loan of US$300 million and US$130 million to be financed by the state government. As part of the Telangana Rising 2047 vision, it will support the state government’s urban mission program in selected cities in Peri-Urban Regional Economy (PURE) and Rural Agricultural Regional Economy (RARE). The project is likely to be approved next year.

According to the information, the project will help local bodies finance and manage their own resources and gain access to market finance by strengthening the Telangana Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TUFIDC) as a financial intermediary, rewarding improvements in the finances of urban local bodies and promoting municipal bonds. It will also fund climate-resilient water supply, sanitation, drainage and public spaces and the regeneration of municipal assets, including areas around historic buildings, for productive economic use.

The project envisages the development of an ecosystem for institutional strengthening and municipal financing, which aims to ensure that institutions and systems enable ULBs to finance and manage urban services from their own resources. The approach would be to strengthen TUFIDC at the state level. At the ULB level, it will reward better finance, promote municipal bonds and build skills in municipal finance.

The project is designed in view of the rapid growth experienced in secondary and suburban cities, which requires investment in infrastructure and services to an extent that state subsidies and municipal revenues alone cannot finance. Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) are heavily dependent on state and central transfers with low own source revenue and uneven financial reporting, resulting in few ULBs being credible.

Published – 11 Nov 2026 15:28 IST