Date:14/02/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/02/14/stories/2003021402301600.htm

Business

IFC plans to up India exposure to $1b

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI FEB. 13. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has highlighted its persistent focus on India and said that it seeks to venture into new sectors of the economy in order to strengthen the competitiveness quotient of the Indian industry. It plans to increase its investment to $1 billion this year in Indian companies, mostly engaged in manufacturing, infrastructure and financial sectors.

This was stated here today by Assad Jabre, Vice-President, Operations, International Finance Corporation, the World Bank group, during a lecture organised by the Confederation of the Indian Industry (CII).

"Our exposure was about $670 million so far. We want to increase our exposure to $1 billion dollar,'' he said

Terming the fiscal deficit situation as "unsustainable'' and as a brake on growth prospects, he said India's regulatory framework was slow and bureaucratic, leading to widespread corruption and impeding foreign investment flows.''

Mr. Jabre, who is responsible for new investments worldwide, said the IFC had three key focus areas for India.

These included companies that were expanding and moving towards a regional or global presence or were restructuring and modernising to become internationally competitive.

The other categories, he said, were financial markets where IFC was seeking to strengthen the commercial banking sector. Thirdly, the IFC was keen on investing in infrastructure through private companies, particularly in power generation, telecom, oil and gas, information and communication technology, healthcare and education.