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INDIA has become the seventh largest shareholder in the World Bank after the Washington based financial aid institution raised the voting share of the South Asian economic powerhouse.

“ The changes in the shareholding structure of the bank would make India one of the important shareholders in the bank. India would now be the seventh largest shareholder in the bank,” said a finance ministry statement.

The changes announced on Sunday bring about a 3.13 percentage- point shift in favour of the developing countries giving them just over 47.19 per cent of the total votes, while advanced economies’ share of the total falls to just under 52.81 per cent.

India’s voting power has gone up from 2.77 per cent to 2.91 per cent, while China’s has soared to 4.42 per cent from 2.77 per cent.

As a result of this change, India moves ahead of Russia, Canada, Australia, Italy and Saudi Arabia in voting power.

The United States still leads with 15.85 per cent of the voting rights followed by Japan’s 6.84 per cent.

Other big members are Germany ( four per cent), France ( 3.75 per cent) and the United Kingdom ( 3.75 per cent).

“ The bank also agreed to review its shareholding every five years and as India’s economy grows further, this should lead to a further improvement in India’s relative importance,” the statement added.

World Bank members, including India, have endorsed boosting its capital by more than $ 86 billion and giving developing countries a little more voice in running the affairs of the 186- member institution.

The enhanced lending capacity would enable India to receive additional assistance to the extent of $ 7- 10 billion in the coming years.