Context:

• Finance Minister attends the 5th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the AIIB.

About AIIB:

• The AIIB is a multilateral development bank.
• Mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia.
• Headquartered in Beijing and started operations in 2016.
• Invests in sustainable infrastructure and other productive sectors in Asia and beyond.
• India is a member of the bank and has the second-largest shareholding and voting rights after china.
• Membership to the bank is open to all members of the Asian Development Bank or the World Bank.
• The bank also allows non-sovereign entities to apply for membership provided their home countries are members.
• Set up a Covid-19 support fund for its members.
• Its membership goes beyond Asia.

Development Since Launch:

• Since its launch, India has emerged as the overall top borrower — $4.5 billion — from the Beijing-based bank, and also the top beneficiary of Covid-19-related relief fund.
• As the largest borrower, India has almost 25 percent of all approved AIIB loans channeled to it.
• India is set to get over $1 billion for building mass transport systems, including the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Rail Project costing $500 million, Mumbai Metro line-5 costing $350 million and Chennai Metro Corridor-4 costing $350 million.

Reference: http://ddnews.gov.in/business/fm-nirmala-sitharaman-attends-5th-annual-meeting-board-governors-aiib#:~:text=Finance%20Minister%20Nirmala%20Sitharaman%20attends,to%20combat%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.

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