India,
one of the founding members of the AIIB, has been elected to the board of
directors of the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
which is expected to begin loan approvals before the end of this year.
Dinesh
Sharma, Additional Secretary of Ministry of Finance has
been elected to the 12-member board through a secret ballot voting.
Former
Chinese Finance Minister Jin Liqun was elected to head the bank based in
Beijing after Russia withdrew its candidate.
Indian
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is the designated governor of the AIIB from
India. Sharma who headed the Indian delegation represented Jaitley at the
meeting.
About AIIB
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Beijing-based development bank.
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AIIB was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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AIIB's core values "lean, clean and green.
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AIIB is authorised with capital of $ 100 billion and subscribed capital of $ 50
billion.
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AIIB will invest in sectors including energy, transportation, urban
construction and logistics as well as education and healthcare.
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China is the largest shareholder with 26.06% voting shares. India is
the second-largest shareholder with 7.5% followed by Russia 5.93% and
Germany with 4.5%.
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India whose total capital subscription amounts to $8.37 billion has paid first
instalment of $334.70 million to the paid-in capital stock of the bank. 20% of
the subscription is to be paid in five equal instalments.
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The language of the bank will be in English and the currency will
be US dollar although Members can contribute in any currency.