DFID budgetary support to Orissa

The Department For International Development (DFID) of the UK government is actively considering the release of second tranche of direct budgetary support to Orissa within this fiscal.

This was indicated by the British High Commissioner to India, Michael Arthur here on Wednesday.

Arthur was on a two-day visit to Orissa.

He said, the DFID is working with the Centre, state government and the World Bank in this regard.

DFID had disbursed Rs 225 crore direct budgetary support to the Orissa government in 2002-03 but further reform steps could unlock a much more substantial medium term programme to enable poverty reduction, he observed.

The high commissioner also hinted that Orissa will be the focus of DFID grant to India, which is estimated at £300 million (Rs 2,400 crore) in the current fiscal against £200 million last year.

There are four partner states of Department For International Development in India. Besides Orissa, the other states are West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

These states get almost two third of the Department For International Development grant to India with the rest one third going to other national programmes in different states.

Incidentally, the DFID funded schemes in the pipe line in Orissa are much larger than the projects in other states, thus enabling the state to get the lion's share of the DFID grant.

Arthur said, the UK and India needed to explore further areas of cooperation and possible investment.

Referring to Orissa's vast mineral deposits, he said, the state could tap UK's expertise in extraction of minerals, particularly coal.

Besides, Orissa could take advantage of expertise of the UK's tourism companies in marketing the state as a tourist destination and development of infrastructure. He underlined that the state should take steps to attract more British tourists.

Similarly, development of communication network could be another area of cooperation between the companies of the United Kingdom and Orissa, he added.

The high commissioner called on the governor Rajendran, the chief minister Naveen Patnaik and several other ministers.

He also had a round table meeting with select industrialist, entrepreneurs and representatives of several public sector undertakings in the state to explore the possibilities of better cooperation between business houses of the state with those of the United Kingdom .

Arthur said, the warm relationship between United Kingdom and India will continue after the installation of the UPA government at the Centre and informed that British prime minister, Tony Blair had sent the British deputy prime minister as a special envoy to Delhi to call on prime minister Manmohan Singh.

Referring to the Iraq situation he said with the transfer of sovereignty to Iraq recently we have passed a milestone.

On the issue of India sending troops to Iraq, he said, "the prime minister and the external affairs minister have already made statements on it and we are not pushing the government".

On Department For International Development s achievement in Orissa over the last three years, he said, the reduction in infant mortality rate and rise in literacy rate in the state were positive indicators. "It shows that the things are moving forward", he said.