India will ask the World Bank for funds for Bharat Nirman during World Bank president Paul D Wolfowitz's visit to the Capital.
The programme aims to improve irrigation, drinking water supply, roads, housing, electrification and telephone connectivity in rural areas.
Bharat Nirman, which had been estimated to cost Rs 1,74,000 crore (Rs 1740 billion) over the next five years, could not be funded entirely from the Budget, officials said.
I'm here to learn from India: World Bank chief
With the Centre under pressure to reduce its market borrowings under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, it is scouting for external assistance for the programme. The government has allocated an additional Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) for social sector programmes during the current fiscal.
However, the Planning Commission has said in the next fiscal, the level of gross budgetary support has to go up on account of the additional expenditure commitments of the government.
"The normal increase of 15 per cent over the previous years' gross budgetary support will not be adequate in the next fiscal," said an official.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is expected to cost Rs 13,000 crore (Rs 130 billion) next fiscal. This could entail an increase of about Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) from the current expenditure on employment generation programmes.
Other than Bharat Nirman and employment guarantee schemes, expenditure on the rural health mission would have to be factored in next year, said officials, adding that outlays on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan would have to be stepped up in order to meet the target of 100 per cent enrollment by 2007.
The increase in commitments means the Centre will have to look for funds from multilateral agencies. While the government is in favour of funding one centrally sponsored scheme, which covers different states, the Bank is likely to push for state specific schemes, where it can link specific reforms to the release of funds.
Funding
-
Aims to improve irrigation, drinking water supply, roads, housing etc in rural areas
- Scheduled to be in place over the next five years, has been estimated at Rs 1,74,000 crore
© 2025