India 2018

Finance 237
The UK Government has announced that all new development cooperation
programmes will be only for Technical Assistance (TA) programmes in the area
of energy, skills, urban and economic policy etc., or in investments in private
sector projects focused on helping the poor. Both sides have agreed to this
arrangement.
India-European Union (EU) Development Cooperation
The European Union (EU) has been providing development assistance to India
in the form of Grants. The priority areas include environment, public health
and education. EU implements development cooperation programmes through
Country Strategy Paper (CSP). The CSP is based on EU objectives, on the policy
agenda of the partner country and on an analysis of the country/ region situation.
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank (the BanqueEuropeenned'Investissement) (EIB)
is the European Union's financing institution which was established in 1958
under the Treaty of Rome (1957) to provide financing for capital investment.
The members of the EIB are the Member States of the European Union, who
have all subscribed to the Bank's capital. Outside the European Union, EIB
financing operations are conducted principally from the Bank's own resources
but also, under mandate, from Union or Member States' budgetary resources.
Under these arrangements, the EIB's funds are utilized to finance investments
in countries signatory to Co-operation Agreements with the EU.
Indo-German Bilateral Development Cooperation
Germany through their Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ) has been providing both financial and technical assistance to India since
1958. In 2008, the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation
and Nuclear Safety (BMU) also initiated assistance under German Government's
'International Climate Protection Initiative', which is an additional instrument
of the German Government over and above and without undermining the
existing sources of Official Development Assistance. Priority areas of bilateral
cooperation between Germany and India include: Energy, Sustainable Urban
Development as well as Environment and Management of Natural Resources.
Indo-French Development Cooperation
The Government of France has been extending development assistance to India
since 1968. However, the major drawback of French assistance was that it was
tied to supply of goods and services from France. The priority areas for the
French Agency for Development (AFD) financing in India are: (i) energy
efficiency and renewable energy; (ii) urban infrastructure (public transport,
water, etc.); (iii) the preservation of biodiversity.
Norway
Till date about 24 NGO projects have been cleared since 2005. Bilateral meetings
are periodically held between senior officials of Finance Ministries of India and
Norway.