THE CLAIM
A WhatsApp forward doing the rounds recently claims that India, in over 70 years of its Independence, the only period when India did not take a loan from the World Bank was from 2015 to 2018 – under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governance.
The WhatsApp message, sent in by a WebQoof reader, reads: “In the 70-year history of Hindustan, there are only 3 years in which Hindustan did not take loans of one rupee from World Bank. And they are – 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18.”
The same message has also been shared on several occasions throughout this year and last year on Facebook and Twitter:
TRUTH OF FALSE?
World Bank data shows that for the three-year period in question (1 April 2015 to 31 March 2018), India was granted projects/loans worth more than US$ 20,642 million for 50 projects.
The biggest of these approved loans was issued in favour of the Swachh Bharat Mission Support Operation on 15 December 2015, worth $3 billion.
The next five biggest loans approved were:
- Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor-3 | $1.3 billion | 30 June 2015
- Grid-Connected Rooftop Solar Program | $1 billion | 13 May 2016
- North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project | $940 million | 24 June 2016
- Maharashtra Project on Climate Resilient Agriculture | $840 million | 27 February 2018
- Capacity Augmentation of the National Waterway- 1 (JAL MARG VIKAS) Project | $750 million | 12 April 2017
In fact, India is the largest recipient of loans from the World Bank since its Independence ($102.1 billion between 1945 and 2015), a recent lending report published by the Bank said.
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