World Bank President
In New Delhi: According to the incoming president of the World Bank, India has a chance to profit from multinational corporations’ initiatives to construct plants outside of China as they look to diversify their supply chains.
His comments follow recent investment announcements by U.S. firms, including chipmaker Micron Technology, in India and come as the United States looks for a strong counterweight to China in Asia amid growing tensions in ties.
In recent years, many companies have adopted a “China Plus One” strategy to build new manufacturing units outside the People’s Republic.
India has a window of three-to-five years to seize this opportunity to attract investment, said Ajay Banga, the former Mastercard CEO who became World Bank chief last month.
“I think India’s opportunity currently is to cash in on the ‘China plus one’ opportunity. This opportunity won’t stay open for 10 years,” Banga told reporters in New Delhi during his first official visit to the country.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had his first state visit to the United States last month, which coincided with a flurry of investment announcements by U.S. companies in India.
Banga also said that India’s growth has been cushioned by domestic consumption in the face of a global slowdown.
The head of the World Bank also urged private financial contributions to support international efforts to finance renewable energy. According to the lender, a shift to green energy in poor countries by 2030 will cost $1 trillion and contribute to the achievement of net-zero goals.
“The facts remains we will need different forms of concessional capital. We will also need different forms of multilateral bank capital and government capital and philanthropy capital to take first risk positions or help enable the blended finance to come through,” Banga said.
(This story has not been edited by Bharat Express staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
