The Shanghai-based multilateral bank of the Brics countries, The New Development Bank (NDB), is set to open its first regional office in India at the Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City.
The objective of NDB is to cater to the sustainable developmental and infrastructural needs of India.
The Indian Regional Office (IRO) of NDB will focus on planning, implementing and monitoring new projects.
The NDB President Marcos Troyjo said that the IRO would be beneficial in enhancing NDB’s engagement with the borrowers and stakeholders. IRO will help expand NDB’s on-the-ground presence while preparing and implementing projects.
The IRO of NDB will complement the other regional offices across the world. In 2017, NDB opened its Africa Regional Centre (ARC) in Johannesburg. In 2019, the Americas Regional Office (ARO) was opened in Sao Paulo and a sub-office in Brasilia. In 2020, the Eurasian Regional Centre (ERC) was opened in Moscow.
The NDB was established by the Brics Countries- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It was officially opened in July 2015. Further, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Uruguay have joined the bank.
The NDB has approved 21 Indian projects till now with funding of $7.1 billion.
From the initiation, NDB has approved over 80 projects with a portfolio of $30 billion.
The projects of NDB are in the sectors of transport, water and sanitization, clean energy, digital infrastructure, social infrastructure and urban development.
On Thursday, during the seventh annual meeting of NDB’s Board of Governors, the Indian Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said NDB had established itself as a reliable partner for emerging market economies.
At the meeting, Nirmala Sitharaman also mentioned that India’s Economic Growth in the current financial year is estimated to be 8.9%, and it is considered the highest among the largest economies.
Sitharaman’s official statement says, “This reflects India’s strong resilience and speedy recovery.”
On Thursday, NDB’s Board of Governors approved the bank’s general strategy for 2022-2026. The strategy is titled, ‘Scaling Up Development Finance for a Sustainable Future.’
The above strategy aims at making NDB the leading provider of solutions for infrastructure and sustainable development for developing countries and emerging market economies.
The ongoing Russian invasion has become a hindrance to the new developments by NDB in Russia; hence it has put its new projects on hold in March at Russia.
The NDB stated on its website, “In light of unfolding uncertainties and restrictions, NDB has put new transactions in Russia on hold. NDB will continue to conduct business in full conformity with the highest compliance standards as an international institution.”
The Article of Agreement states that NDB applies sound banking principles in all its operations.
