West Bengal, a state in eastern India, appealed for USD300 million from the World Bank to finance irrigation schemes in 18 of its districts. The funding will also be used to reconstruct 28,000 debilitated irrigation facilities. The state government assured the creation of supplementary services such as roads, marketing and credit services, and market access, if its request was granted under the agency’s country assistance scheme. (Source: Bengal applies for USD300 mn World Bank loan for irrigation/Business Standard)