India : Environmental Sustainability in the 1990s, A Country Assistance Evaluation

India's environmental problems
are deep-rooted and severe. Estimates of annual
environmental damage range from 4.5 percent to 8 percent of
gross domestic product (GDP), in line with annual economic
growth. Since 1990 the World Bank has lent India 1.94
billion dollars for 19 projects to mitigate environmental
damage and another 97 million dollars was granted under
global environmental facility (GEF) and Montreal protocol
trust funds for four projects to protect the global
environment. The Bank has also supported a spectrum of
economic and sector work (ESW) that address environmental
issues based on country assistance strategies. The report
identifies eight conclusions for the Bank s future
environmental assistance to India: integrate safeguards
earlier in the project cycle; provide alternatives to public
sector management of water supply and sewerage systems;
greatly expand support of sanitation programs; air pollution
needs to be targeted as a priority measure; step up efforts
to promote rational pricing of natural resources; monitoring
and enforcement of environmental standards is lagging and
undermines the whole regulatory effort; links between
poverty reduction and ecological balance must be more fully
documented; and better recognition of global environmental
threats will also address local concerns.