Martin Raiser, the World Bank’s new Vice President for South Asia, and Auguste Tano Kouamé, the World Bank’s new Country Director, met with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati to discuss how the international financial institution can best support the state’s future development priorities.
Raiser and Kouamé will also see firsthand the impact of ongoing World Bank-financed initiatives in Assam during their two-day tour.
Sarma and Raiser talked about pipeline projects worth approximately $1 billion that the Bank is planning to help Assam’s future growth. This pipeline of projects is in response to the call for assistance from the Government of Assam and the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, to unlock Assam’s growth potential, reinforce the state’s water infrastructure, and improve its health systems. By June 2023, projects worth $450 million are expected to be presented to the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors.
These suggested initiatives would seek to improve trade and investment, strengthen resilience to increasingly frequent and severe climate-related shocks, and promote the development of agriculture, tourism, and logistics sectors in order to boost growth and employment.
The World Bank will continue to support sustainable flood management measures in the Brahmaputra basin, as well as the economic potential of the iconic river, through improvements to waterways trade and transit infrastructure.
“Assam and the World Bank have had a long and impactful partnership supporting the state’s climate-resilient and resource-efficient growth, especially in agriculture, water infrastructure and public finance,” Sarma added. “We have identified some key areas for Assam’s future growth, and I look forward to the Bank’s knowledge and financial support in these sectors.”
Sarma introduced the Assam State Public Procurement Portal, which is backed by the World Bank and would assist the state manage its public finances more effectively and transparently.
“Chief Minister Dr Sarma shared his vision for Assam’s future development and the Bank stands ready to support this vision in areas where we can be most impactful,” Raiser added. “Boosting job-oriented growth, building more climate resilient water infrastructure and strengthening delivery of citizen services will be at the heart of our future engagement.”
“We also discussed that Assam, with its strategic geographic location, can benefit significantly from greater regional economic cooperation,” Raiser added.
Raiser and Kouamé travelled to Kamrup district and spoke with members of the Farmer Producer Organisation of the World Bank-supported Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART). Assam’s government seeks to treble farmer income in the state, and the bank is assisting agricultural producers in gaining access to new technology, markets, and finance, as well as supporting private investment in the industry. They also dealt with private investors in the same project’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“The APART project has been very effective in supporting private entrepreneurs in both rural and urban districts. It was impressive to see how the women groups in rural Assam are diversifying their fish farm-based products to reach new markets and increasing income for their families,” stated Kouame. “The Bank will continue to support these efforts in Assam.”
The World Bank has had a long partnership with the Government of Assam over the previous two decades. The World Bank’s total ongoing investment for Assam state-specific initiatives in agriculture, transportation, public finance management, and delivery of citizen-centric public services is roughly $349 million. Assam has also benefited from World Bank-supported central and multi-state programmes including agricultural higher education, rural livelihoods, power system modernization, and hydrology.
Last fiscal year, India was the World Bank Group’s largest client, with a portfolio that included $3.98 billion in financing from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and $83 million (or 0.08 billion) in lending from the International Development Association (IDA) (July 2021-June 2022). The Bank’s net obligations to the country was at $21.86 billion (IBRD $18.76 billion, IDA $3.0 billion) as of July 2022, spread among 99 projects.
