The World Bank Group said on Friday it has formed a new partnership with the Indian government to support job creation in both urban and rural areas with annual funding of $8-10 billion over the next five years. The World Bank’s previous such plan for India, originally for FY18-22 and extended to December 2025 due to the pandemic, had outlays of $6-7 billion annually.
The new plan took effect from early 2026 and will continue for about five years, a World Bank spokesman said. The focus will be on sectors that create large-scale local jobs, such as infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, health, tourism and value-added manufacturing, the World Bank said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the support would have a “sustainable impact” on jobs in India, according to a WB statement. “We welcome the new country partnership framework with the World Bank Group, which is fully aligned with our Viksit Bharat vision. Leveraging public funds with private capital, creating more jobs in rural and urban India, and enriching projects with the Bank Group’s global expertise will be key to achieving sustainable impact at both speed and scale,” she said. The government aims to transform India into a developed country by 2047.
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Funding through ongoing programs
World Bank funds will be deployed immediately through ongoing programs such as Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through modernized ITIs, Maharashtra Project on Resilient Agriculture, Kerala Health Systems Improvement Program, and to expand electric mobility in the world’s most populous country, the statement said.
“India is one of the key engines of global growth today. Our strategic partnership aims to help India grow even faster on its path to Viksit Bharat by 2047,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, who was in India for the announcement. “Creating more jobs is at the heart of our work. This partnership brings together financing, reforms and private sector investment to make growth an opportunity for millions of Indians,” he said.
The World Bank removed Pakistan and Afghanistan from its South Asia administrative region, Mint reported in July 2025, leaving the South Asia group with six countries: India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. India is pressuring multilateral lenders to stop lending to Islamabad over its role in fueling terrorism, Mint reported earlier.
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Biggest client
A World Bank statement on Friday said India is the group’s largest client, with International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) commitments of $20 billion for 79 projects, International Finance Corporation (IFC) commitments of $16.72 billion for 174 projects and $618 million in guarantees from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The new partnership will further shift the use of IBRD resources towards leveraging private sector capital, making greater use of the World Bank Group’s private sector expertise and tools.
The World Bank is one of several sources of funding for Indian development projects. Although India is the largest partner among multilateral development banks, the country also has other resources such as the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or the BRICS-led New Development Bank.
The World Bank’s portfolio for India included 710 projects with a total commitment of US$139.07 billion as of 31 December 2025. These projects are spread across sectors such as agriculture, education, energy, environment, finance, governance, health, infrastructure, macroeconomics, social, transport, urban, water and digital development, according to the Indian Ministry of Finance.
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