World Bank to loan $1 billion to India to help clean Ganges river

New Delhi: The World Bank will give India a loan of $1 billion to help clean the Ganges river, sacred to hundred of millions of devout Hindus and also one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

World Bank president Robert B. Zoellick says, "the bank would be honoured to help and support India's renewed endeavor to revitalize this uniquely important river."

The loan to clean up the 1,550-mile (2,490-kilometre) river will be spread out over the next five years, he said in the statement released late Wednesday.

Earlier this year the Indian government set up a National Ganga River Basin Authority to ensure that by the year 2020 no untreated sewage or effluents be discharged into the river.

The government estimates that $4 billion will be required to meet this target.