The World Bank has said it will support the government's Swacch Bharat, or Clean India Mission with a new $1.5 billion programme. This will help accelerate results in India's states by giving them performance-based incentives, it said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship initiative was launched in October last year with the aim of ensuring cleanliness across the country by October 2, 2019, which is the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The international financial institution noted that despite a record of impressive economic growth, India still faces the challenge of ensuring good sanitation and public health for its citizens. It said that a national sample-survey of rural sanitation will be conducted every year by independent third-party agencies. Based on the survey findings, the world body will release funds to the central government.