India to seek $5.2 bn from World Bank

Assured a greater say into the affairs of multilateral lending institutions, India will seek additional assistance of $5.2 billion from the World Bank for its financial sector and infrastructure projects, officials said.

The main component of this assistance is for recapitalisation of state-owned commercial banks over the next two to three years, Indian officials here said.

The rest of the amount is for infrastructure finance companies and power grid corporations.

India normally gets assistance worth $ three billion from the World Bank annually of which half is given in concessional form.

At the G20 summit that concluded Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was assured that developing countries like India will have a higher voting right in institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Leaders at the G20 on Thursday pledged a $1.1 trillion package alongside measures for a tighter regulation of the international financial system to help bring the world out of recession.

The measures were also designed to prevent future shocks.

The leaders agreed to negotiate a speedy conclusion of the Doha trade round and put some $250 billion more into trade finance - key demands from India, represented by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Out of $1.1 trillion pledged for various institutions, $250 billion will be given to the IMF to lend at cheaper rates to needy countries in the form of special drawing rights (SDRs).

The leaders agreed to another major Indian demand by deciding to sell IMF gold reserves to raise $6 billion that will go toward helping out the world's poorest countries with cheap loans over the next two to three years.

Besides India, Britain and the US, the G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the EU.