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The new plan took effect from the start of 2026 and will continue for about five years, focusing on sectors that generate local jobs at scale such as infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, tourism, and value-added manufacturing, the World Bank said.
The World Bank Group said on Friday it has formed a new partnership with the government of India to support job creation across both urban and rural areas with $8-10 billion in annual financing over the next five years. The World Bank's previous such plan for India, originally for FY18-22 and extended to December 2025 because of the pandemic, had an outlay of $6-7 billion a year.
The new plan took effect from the start of 2026 and will continue for about five years, a World Bank spokesperson said. The focus will be on sectors that generate local jobs at scale, such as infrastructure and energy, agribusiness, healthcare, 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 the 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 across rural and urban India, and enriching projects with the Bank Group’s global knowledge will be key to achieving sustainable impact at both speed and scale,” she said. The government's goal is to turn India into a developed country by 2047.
Funding through ongoing schemes
The World Bank's funds will be deployed immediately though ongoing schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs, the Maharashtra Project on Resilient Agriculture, the 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 toward Viksit Bharat by 2047,” said World Bank Group president Ajay Banga, who was in India for the announcement. “Creating more jobs is at the core of our work. This partnership brings together financing, reforms, and private sector investment to turn growth into 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, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. India has been pressing multilateral lenders to stop lending to Islamabad for its role in fomenting terrorism, Mint reported earlier.
Biggest client
The 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 across 79 projects, International Finance Corporation (IFC) commitments of $16.72 billion across 174 projects, and $618 million in guarantees from Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The new partnership will further shift the use of IBRD resources toward leveraging private-sector capital, while drawing more fully on the World Bank Group’s private-sector expertise and instruments.
The World Bank is one of several sources of funding for India's development projects. While it is India's largest partner among multilateral development banks, the country has other sources such as the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the BRICS-led New Development Bank.
The World Bank’s India portfolio comprised 710 projects with a total commitment of $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 India’s finance ministry.
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