India has a $1-trillion infrastructure deficit over the next five years, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has told the World Bank, which wants private sector participation to bridge the funding gap.
Chidambaram met World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Saturday on the sidelines of the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
At a public event here along with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Kim stressed on the importance of private sector participation on meeting such a massive funding need.
“I just met with the Finance Minister of India this morning, and he told me that, in India, they have a $1 trillion infrastructure deficit just for the next five years,” Kim said.
“So, all of the official development assistance combined won’t even meet half of India’s infrastructure development needs. So, we’ve got to get the private sector involved,” he said.