Announcement of India Consortium on June 8, 1979

. . FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ,,, .World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE June 8, 1979 INDIA CONSORTIUM The following announcement was issued today at the World Bank's European Office in Paris. The consortium of governments and institutions interested in development assistance to India met in Paris on June 7 and 8, 1979, under the chairmanship of the World Bank. The meeting was attended by represen- tatives of the governments of Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Also represented were the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, DAC/OECD, the Commission of the European Communities and the Government of Switzerland. The Government of India was represented by a delegation led by Dr. Manmohan Singh, Secretary to the Government of India, Department of • Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance . The meeting reviewed the current economic situation in India, discussed the direction of development pol icy and considered foreign aid requirements for the fiscal year which began on April lt 1979. The members of the consortium commended the continued good per- formance of the Indian economy. In 1978/79 foodgrain output is 1 ikely to have exceeded the previous record of 126 million tons and foodgrain stocks remain ample. The growth in agricultural production of about 2~ combined with a growth of industrial output 8%. resulted in a growth in overall economic activity of roughly 4%. This is a heartening con- tinuation of the relatively rapid growth of the past four years and came about despite some bottlenecks in infrastructure. The members of the consortium noted with particular satisfac- tion the continued growth in agriculture as evidence of the pay-off to increased public investment in rural areas and highly appropriate agri- cultural policies. The Indian representatives reiterated their intention to pursue the rural development strategy of the draft plan while moving to relieve supply constraints through greater imports and higher levels of public investment. They noted that adverse developments in the terms of trade posed a growing threat to their ability to carry through this program. The participants welcomed the strategy of the government of combining its investment program with a direct effort to meet the basic • . . .I  • - 2 - needs of India's poor. They emphasized the importance of the family planning program and expressed the hope that recent improvements in implementaton would further accelerate. The meeting commended the Indian Government for its notable success in mobilizing domestic re- sources to implement its development strategy. Members indfcated the contribution they had already made or expected to make toward the achievement of India's medium-term objec- tives. • •