Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and World Bank Chief Ajay Banga Discuss Deepening Capital Markets and Infrastructure

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met with World Bank Group President Ajay Banga on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting in Asheville, United States. The meeting centered on further strengthening the partnership between India and the international finance institution, with a specific focus on deepening corporate, infrastructure, and municipal bond markets.

During the discussion, the Union Finance Minister acknowledged the World Bank Group’s continued engagement with India and noted the speedy processing of the Development Policy Financing (DPF) amounting to USD 1.5 billion, according to a statement issued by the Finance Ministry.

Sitharaman also highlighted the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) support to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through SIDBI, noting that the assistance was processed in record time and has yielded a positive impact on the MSME sector.

The two leaders explored a larger role for the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) in India. The discussions covered the systematic use of guarantees and greater mobilization of private capital to deepen corporate, infrastructure, and municipal bond markets. Furthermore, the talks addressed a sector-based, programmatic approach to credit enhancement for infrastructure.

World Bank President Ajay Banga acknowledged the transformation in India’s infrastructure and discussed opportunities to leverage the World Bank Group’s instruments to support the country's development ambitions. This includes expanding MIGA’s engagement and providing political risk insurance for Indian companies investing overseas.

The meeting also touched upon India’s engagement with the World Bank Group regarding the establishment of a Global Digital Public Infrastructure Knowledge Hub in India. The initiative looks into exploring opportunities to leverage technology in areas such as agriculture, with both sides anticipating early progress toward its launch.

Additionally, the leaders discussed developing globally competitive tourism destinations under the new India–World Bank Group Country Partnership Framework. This approach plans to combine International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) policy and infrastructure support alongside IFC investment and MIGA guarantees.

Concluding the meeting, Sitharaman and Banga discussed evolving the institutional partnership from a traditional lender-borrower model into a strategic platform focused on global knowledge, innovation, and private capital mobilization. The collaboration aims to combine India’s implementation capacity with the World Bank Group’s global expertise and financial instruments.

"The evolving partnership between India and the World Bank Group highlights a critical shift toward leveraging institutional guarantees and private capital for infrastructure and bond market development. For the broader business ecosystem, particularly MSMEs and infrastructure sectors, greater mobilization of funds through instruments like MIGA and IFC support creates a more stable framework for long-term growth and international expansion." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes