Four Major World Bank Development Projects In India To Spur Resilient And Sustainable Economy

Recently, the World Bank has committed to supporting four major projects in India that are expected to drive a range of development initiatives. The approval for these projects, worth over USD 800 million, was granted by the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank in December 2020.

Focus areas of the projects include strengthening India’s social protection architecture, promoting nutrition-supportive agriculture for tribal households in Chhattisgarh, improving education in Nagaland, reviewing and enhancing the safety and performance of dams across India, and accelerating the COVID-19 Response Programme.

The projects, according to Junaid Ahmad – Country Director for World Bank India, “will support India’s efforts to build back better by creating a sustainable and resilient economy”, allowing for many underprivileged families to, “access better income opportunities, education, water supply and benefit from the expanded social protection schemes of the government.”

USD 400 Million For COVID-19 Response Programme
The bulk of the funding recently approved by the world bank will go towards accelerating India’s COVID-19 Social Protection Response Programme, which seeks to provide social assistance to underprivileged households that have been severely affected by the pandemic. This is the second tranche of funding for this purpose from the World Bank, with the first having been provided in May 2020.

USD 250 Million For Dam Improvement & Rehabilitation (DRIP-2)
India’s dams are some of the most valuable parts of its infrastructure and with many aging ones, there is an ongoing effort to improve the safety and performance of existing dams across India by leveraging nationwide dam safety guidelines, global expertise and new technologies. These efforts are being conducted as part of the Dam Improvement and Rehabilitation Project (DRIP-2).

USD 100 Million For CHIRAAG Project
The Chhattisgarh Inclusive Rural and Accelerated Agriculture Growth Project (CHIRAAG), is helping to promote nutrition-supportive agriculture for tribal households in Chhattisgarh by developing sustainable production mechanisms. This will enable tribal households in remote areas to cultivate diverse and nutritious crops, year-round. 180,000 households across 1,000 villages in 8 districts of the region are expected to benefit from the project.

USD 68 Million For Enhancing Education in Nagaland
The Enhancing Classroom Teaching and Resources Project is working in Nagaland to improve classroom instruction, create professional development opportunities for teachers and implement technology systems to provide students and teachers with improved access to online and blended learning, while also providing for better monitoring of programmes.