India and the World Bank Group have discussed expanding their partnership beyond traditional lending, with a sharper focus on infrastructure finance, digital public infrastructure, tourism and the mobilisation of private capital. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met World Bank Group President Ajay Banga on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, US.

The two leaders discussed a larger role for the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency in India. The proposed engagement would seek to deepen the country’s corporate, infrastructure and municipal bond markets through the systematic use of guarantees and greater mobilisation of private capital. The meeting was focused on ways to strengthen the India-World Bank Group partnership and widen the use of the institution’s financing tools.