International Finance Corporation (IFC) plans to scale up India investments by 30% to $7 billion this fiscal year ending June 30, according to Sarvesh Suri, regional vice-president for Asia and the Pacific at World Bank Group's private sector-focused development finance arm. As reported by Mint, this represents a significant increase from the $5.4 billion closed in the last fiscal year and the $5.2 billion already committed in the first eight months of the current fiscal. The lender has already committed $5.2 billion in eight months and aims to reach the $7 billion target by June end.
The agency has demonstrated remarkable growth in its Indian operations, with investments jumping four times to $5.4 billion in 2024-25 from $1.3 billion in 2021-22. According to Suri's interview with Mint, IFC aims to achieve $10 billion of long-term finance annually in India by 2030, a goal discussed when managing director Makhtar Diop visited India last year. The World Bank arm has already crossed its FY25 Asia Pacific long-term finance figure of $13.1 billion this year, with expectations of 50% growth compared to last year's numbers.
IFC's investments span multiple sectors including city projects, e-mobility, small businesses, energy transition and agriculture. As reported by Mint, a significant part of IFC's work involves partnering with municipalities and state governments to provide commercial, non-sovereign lending. The agency recently assisted Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) with a $60 million investment for water and sanitation projects, marking its first investment to an urban local body in India. IFC is currently shifting from being a lending bank to a leveraging bank, targeting five dollars of private investment for every dollar from IFC by 2030, up from about 2.5 dollars currently.
Suri expressed optimism about India's economic prospects, noting that businesses are "quite upbeat in terms of investments" according to his interactions with private sector companies and banks in India. According to Mint, India has consistently been one of the world's fastest-growing economies, with the second advance estimate projecting 7.6% growth in FY26. To achieve the 'Viksit Bharat' status by 2047, IFC estimates India will need to sustain a 7.8% growth rate for the next two decades. The agency is focusing on inclusive, job-creating growth, acknowledging the need to accelerate job creation as globally, only about 400 million jobs may be created on a business-as-usual basis while 1.2 billion people are expected to enter the workforce in developing countries over the next decade.
Globally, IFC achieved its third consecutive year of record results in FY25, committing $72 billion during the year, doubling the amount from three years ago and up from last year's record $56 billion, according to information shared by the World Bank arm. As reported by Mint, IFC is working with various governments to assess if they need working capital financing or guarantees at the sovereign or state-owned enterprise level to support procurement of essential inputs like oil and gas, while India's strong economic growth, government's supporting reforms and favorable demographic profile make IFC bullish on continuing investment support for the country's private sector.
