India, German ink pacts on financial, technical cooperation

India and Germany today signed two umbrella agreements for financial and technical cooperation under a bilateral development cooperation framework.
The pacts were signed on the occasion of the visit of German President Joachim Gauck.
The Umbrella Agreements were signed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram and German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Gerd Mueller during their bilateral meeting.
"On this occasion, both sides appreciated the constructive engagement between India and Germany under development cooperation framework," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
It further said Germany committed funds amounting to 1.09 billion euro, which is highest ever commitment so far since 1958.

The Umbrella Agreement on Financial Cooperation pertains to concessional loans from Germany for nine projects, including Himalaya Hydropower Programme (HPPCL), Energy Efficiency in Thermal Power Plants (WBPDCL), Affordable Housing Programme (NHB) and New Approaches in Microfinance and Microenterprise Finance (SIDBI).
The agreement for technical cooperation pertains to thirteen projects in energy, environment and sustainable economic development sectors, which are priority sectors under bilateral development cooperation.
The cooperation development framework between the two countries is in place for over 50 years.