Need ideas, not dollars, Modi tells WB chief

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi told World Bank President Jim Yong Kim that India requires ideas, knowledge and expertise "rather than dollars" as there is a need to focus on developing a base of skilled people keeping the future in mind.

During a meeting here, Modi also suggested to Kim that the cleaning of the Ganga would be a very inspiring project for the World Bank.

The World Bank chief said that it has already committed USD 1 billion for cleaning of river Ganga and may provide more money if required.

"If we can achieve the result. We have to first spent the first $1bn that we have under books. We are making good progress on that. For now that enough money. If it progress well, we would be willing to look at subsequent money," he said. "My meeting with World Bank President Mr. Jim Yong Kim was very fruitful. We discussed several ways of working together in the times to come," Modi said. In a series of tweets, he said the two talked about the importance of scale and the need to work on a scale that inspires people and positively transforms their lives. Noting that the world focusses on trade in goods, he said that in future the core issue will be how to get skilled people. "We need to work in this direction".

Modi also laid emphasis on speedy implementation of programmes undertaken by the World Bank. "We live in a world where speed matters. Quick execution is essential. Speeding up World Bank projects will surely increase the impact," he said.

The PM reiterated his three most important goals-- skill, scale and speed. India is trying to do some really aspirational things and it is trying to do at huge scale very quickly.