World Bank to provide $1.5 billion to boost private sector-led job creation in India
NEW DELHI, June 19: The World Bank will provide finances to the tune of $1.5 billion to support India’s structural reforms to boost private sector-led job creation and economic growth.
The funding will be provided under the ‘Boosting Job Creation in the Private Sector Development Policy Financing (DPF), according to a statement issued by the World Bank today.
The new operation supports India’s reforms in three critical areas: enhancing the business-enabling environment, advancing trade and investment openness, and mobilizing private capital for firm expansion and job creation.
The DPF Operation can create job opportunities for the 11 million youth who will be entering the labor market every year over the next two decades.
The DPF builds on many structural reforms undertaken or initiated in recent years, including tax simplification, trade integration, and legislative and regulatory reforms to improve ease of living and the ease of doing business.
The operation also supports tax and regulatory reforms that reduce barriers to entrepreneurship, updates to the labour laws to make it easier for women to participate in formal employment, measures to streamline trade and investment regimes, and steps to facilitate capital mobilization.
It said economic reforms in India reflect a maturing phase of India’s governance, from expanding regulatory frameworks to delivering measurable outcomes with focus on simplifying systems, reducing compliance burdens, and improving predictability for citizens and businesses.
“From simplified tax regime and Next-Generation GST, expanded and more inclusive MSME definitions, and business compliance, reforms were designed to make everyday economic interactions smoother, faster, and more transparent, strengthening policy certainty and trust in institutions.
“Collectively, these measures illustrate a governance approach rooted in outcome-driven policymaking, fostering trust, predictability, and long-term economic resilience,” the statement said.
“India is well paced in its reforms agenda to unlock private capital and create jobs in a challenging global context,” said Johannes Zutt, World Bank Vice President for South Asia.
“By reducing the regulatory burden on firms, expanding market access, and improving access to finance, the operation creates conditions for Indian firms to scale, invest, and hire — directly generating quality jobs across sectors.”
“To foster job creation and entrepreneurship, the DPF supports measures to unlock financing particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as women-owned enterprises and underserved borrowers,” said Aurélien Kruse and Laurent Gonnet, task team leaders of the operation, in a joint statement. (BVI)
