The question of whether India has surpassed Pakistan in receiving loans from the World Bank sparks debate. As of March 2026, India's outstanding debt to the World Bank amounted to $34.35 billion, making it the largest debtor among countries borrowing from this institution in dollar terms. However, relying solely on this indicator to compare the debt burden with countries like Pakistan is incorrect. Factors such as GDP, loan type, repayment terms, and various funding sources must be taken into account.
Discussion on this topic intensified after its publication on social media on August 8. Jawahar Sarkar, former CEO of Prasaran Bharati and former Rajya Sabha member from TMC, stated on the social network X that India had become the World Bank's largest debtor, surpassing Pakistan. Nevertheless, World Bank records indicate that India achieved the status of the largest debtor back in 1969.
India became a member of the World Bank in 1945. The first credit agreement was signed on August 18, 1949, when India received its first loan of $34 million for railway infrastructure needs. This loan was the first World Bank loan granted to any Asian country. The documents for this credit agreement were signed by the then diplomat Vijayalakshmi Pandit.
Over subsequent decades, World Bank funds were used to implement projects in areas such as energy, agriculture, steel industry, green revolution, ports, education, urban and rural transport infrastructure, freight corridors, inland waterways, renewable energy, sanitation, urban development, and Ganga restoration.
According to World Bank data, India became the institution's largest debtor by 1969. After this, its outstanding debt gradually increased over many years, but later a trend of decreasing debt for India to the World Bank was observed.
As of March 2026, India's total outstanding debt to the World Bank was $34.35 billion. This amount includes approximately $21.92 billion in International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) Loans and $12.43 billion related to the International Development Association (IDA). This figure is less than the $39.6 billion recorded in 2020, indicating a decrease in India's debt of about 13% by 2026 compared to 2020.
New financing from the World Bank continues for India. In June 2026, financing of $1.5 billion through the private sector was approved to stimulate economic growth and job creation. Additionally, in April 2026, financing of $225 million was approved for a highway modernization project in Rajasthan. As of June 30, 2026, an obligation of about $142.75 billion was recorded across 718 World Bank-financed projects in India. India exited the International Development Association in 2014 and now has the right to borrow from the World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
Pakistan's World Bank portfolio as of June 30, 2026, included obligations totaling about $51.85 billion across 371 projects. Pakistan still has access to loans from both IBRD and IDA. In June 2026, financing of $70 million was approved for the 'Connect Punjab Province' project and financing for the Tarbela Force Extension hydroelectric power plant project within Pakistan. However, it is crucial to understand the significant difference: total commitments and outstanding debt are not the same. According to older data, in 2023, Pakistan's outstanding debt to the World Bank was around $20 billion, while India's was around $39.3 billion.
Loan size does not reflect economic standing. There is a significant difference in the sizes of the economies of India and Pakistan. According to the latest World Bank data, India's GDP is about $3.96 trillion, while Pakistan's GDP is about $407 billion, making India's economy roughly ten times larger than Pakistan's.
For this reason, simply comparing the amount of loans received by a country from the World Bank does not provide a complete picture of debt pressure. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates, India's debt-to-GDP ratio exceeds 80%, whereas Pakistan's debt-to-GDP ratio is within 60–70%. Furthermore, according to budget documents from February 2026, the projected debt-to-GDP ratio for India for 2026–27 is 55.6%.
The situation of other major borrowers also helps to understand this analogy. As of March 31, 2026, China's IBRD loan was about $13.74 billion, with an outstanding debt of $13.87 billion. Meanwhile, Indonesia's total commitments across 418 projects reached $73.83 billion, and Bangladesh's reached $47.82 billion across 311 projects. This demonstrates that commitments, disbursement, and outstanding debt are different metrics and cannot replace each other.
In conclusion, India has indeed borrowed more dollars from the World Bank than Pakistan. However, this alone does not prove that the debt pressure on India is higher than on Pakistan. For an adequate assessment of the debt situation, many aspects must be considered simultaneously: GDP size, sovereign debt, repayment capacity, other domestic and external debts, interest rates, and financing structure. This is reflected in the World Bank's Country Partnership Framework for the fiscal year 2026–31.
