Beijing, Jan 18: 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 for which a secret ballot was held on Saturday.
This will be the first board of directors for the new bank in which 57 members joined a founding members.
Earlier former Chinese Finance Minister Jin Liqun was elected to head the bank based in Beijing after Russia withdrew its candidate.
The inaugural meeting of the board of the governors of the bank which concluded today has approved by-laws, rules and codes of conduct for the bank.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is the designated governor of the AIIB from India. Sharma who headed the Indian delegation represented Jaitley at the meeting.
With authorised capital of USD 100 billion and subscribed capital of USD 50 billion, AIIB will invest in sectors including energy, transportation, urban construction and logistics as well as education and healthcare.
China is the largest shareholder with 26.06 per cent voting shares. India is the second largest shareholder with 7.5 per cent followed by Russia 5.93 per cent and Germany with 4.5 per cent.
India whose total capital subscription amounts to USD 8.37 billion has paid first instalment of USD 334.70 million to the paid-in capital stock of the bank.
20 per cent of the subscription is to be paid in five equal instalments.
The election of India to board of directors of the AIIB is expected to provide significant role for it as it is the forum that approves the loans for projects.
India’s attempts to get the Vice President post by virtue of being the second largest shareholder did not materialise as the bank has decided to hire professionals for the post based on merit.
