“Bihar is important to us and we may consider doubling up assistance in the next couple of years from 500 million dollar at present.” – Onno Ruhl.
Patna: World Bank has appreciated the the recent development works in Bihar, particularly its double digit growth rate and plans to double the Soft Loan given to the state to $1 Billion in next couple of years.
World Bank has always supported the development initiatives in Bihar
Bihar has made good progress and registered a double digit growth rate under the leadership of Kumar, World Bank Country Director (India) Onno Ruhl told reporters at Patna on Tuesday, adding that the state must sustain the growth rate to catch up with the rest of the country in terms of development. In order to grow at a fast clip, he said, Bihar needs lots of investment for which the bank has been asked by the Union Finance Ministry to hike investment.
Ruhl said Bihar for a long time had been on ‘pause button’ in the matter of development and had pressed the ‘play button’ only recently. He lauded Kumar for making human resources development his key priority in addition to improvement in law and order situation and infrastructure development.
“Bihar is important to us and we may consider doubling up assistance in the next couple of years from 500 million dollar at present,” Ruhl said. He identified segments of development for assistance in Bihar and said the international donor has been supporting the state government’s programmes like teachers’ training, secondary education for girls and health care.
“We also propose to provide assistance under other schemes like construction of road for habitats with 200 people, power distribution, tourism and agriculture roadmap,” he said.