AIIB to Boost Water Infrastructure Funding in India Amid Severe El Niño Drought

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which has approved $13.8 billion for India, plans to scale up financing for water infrastructure as the country faces an El Niño-linked monsoon deficit of about 15 %. Acting chief economist Jang Ping Thia told reporters in New Delhi that AIIB will broaden its pipeline of projects and provide policy-based loans to support sector reforms. Direct water loans currently account for less than 7 % of AIIB’s Indian portfolio.

The bank is targeting urban water utilities, industrial wastewater recycling, groundwater recharge and micro-irrigation, markets estimated at $35 billion and $118 billion respectively. AIIB hopes to draw private capital into a sector traditionally funded by public taxes, citing smart metering and household billing as viable private-sector entry points. Agriculture, which uses roughly 80 % of freshwater, remains the decisive challenge.