India listing projects worth $2-3bn for funding by AIIB

 The Dollar Business Bureau

India is planning a list of projects for $2-3 billion to be funded by the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in various sectors such as urban development and energy. It is also open to the idea of setting up an office of the global banking institution in New Delhi.

 “India has a huge unmet demand for investment in infrastructure and is preparing a basket of projects worth $2-3 billion for AIIB funding in the areas of urban development (including smart cities), energy, urban transport, railways, inland waterways and water supply,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Addressing the Board of Governors of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the AIIB headquartered in Beijing, Jaitely said the bank has been founded at a time when the economy across the globe has been bit hit hard due to various phenomena.

“The overall recovery of the global economy remains very modest and global growth rate projections have been revised downwards, even though the Asia-Pacific region remains the growth engine for the world,” the finance minister said.

 “AIIB presents a much-needed additional financing window dedicated to infrastructure projects and meeting the financing gap that may be beyond the capacity of the individual countries and the existing MDBs (Multilateral Development Banks),” Jaitley said on AIIB’s role.

The China-led banking institution has also partnered with the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the European Bank to reconstruct and develop co-finance projects.

AIIB was officially established in 2015 with an initial capital of $100 billion. China holds the largest 26.06% voting shares, followed by India with 7.5%, Russia with 5.93% and Germany with 4.5%.