World Bank report says ‘global investments’ decreased in India

New Delhi : The World Bank in its report stated that India recorded a 10-year low investment in the public-private sector in 2015, adding to contractions that pulled down the global investment below its five-year average of USD 124.1 billion.

As per the latest annual report released by the World Bank, the global investment in 2015 decreased to USD 111.6 billion, below the five-year average of USD 124.1 billion from 2010 to 2014.

“This contraction resulted from lower investments in Brazil, China and India,” the report added.

“India recorded a 10-year low in investments, as only six road projects usually a rich source of PPI over the past 10 years reached financial closure,” added the World Bank in its latest report on private participation in Infrastructure Database.

“Consistent with historical trends, India generated a majority of the projects (36 out of 43); Pakistan had four; Nepal, two; and Bangladesh, one. Notably, 26 of the 36 projects in India, amounting to USD 2.0 billion, targeted renewable energy, while all of Pakistan’s projects, totaling USD 749.9 million, solely focused on renewable,” it added.

“Investments in China also fell significantly below its five, ten and 20-year averages, as the average transaction dropped to USD63 million,” it said.

India, China and Brazil took the lead with 131 of the 300 global deals or 44 percent of all projects. Still their combined investment of USD 11.6 billion only made up 10 percent of the global total, compared to 54 percent in 2014, which was also the annual average over the previous four years.

According to the World Bank, global private infrastructure investment in 2015, though on par with the previous year, was 10 percent lower than the previous five-year average because of dwindling commitments in the three nations.

Practice Manager Public-Private Partnerships World Bank Group, Clive Harris, said the data finds that investments in other emerging economies increased rapidly to USD 99.9 billion, representing a 92 percent year-over-year increase. (ANI)