How To Deliver Abroad

Context: An international development cooperation agency will help with deeper and more effective engagement and will address the rapidly-evolving competitive development financing landscape.

Need for an international development cooperation agency

• For enhancing efficacy of India’s development cooperation endeavours: Quality project delivery is yet to become the country’s USP.
  • A specialised agency could pave way for proficient delivery of outcomes.
• Managing India’s growing development assistance engagements: India provides development assistance of $6.48 billion and receives assistance of $6.09 billion annually from key partners as Official Development Assistance (ODA).
• Institutional gap: India’s development assistance processes lack a firm institutional foundation and policies are carried forward on an ad-hoc basis.
  • Limited efforts: In 2003, India Development Initiative (IDI) was announced. Subsequently, Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme (IDEAS) was launched in 2005 for managing credit lines. But the overall development assistance paradigm remained fragmented.
• Huge funding gap: Official development assistance from OECD and other donor countries is seemingly inadequate and ineffective in addressing myriad developmental concerns in recipient countries.
• Economic potential: Handholding to select performing Indian social enterprises to operate in other countries as well.
• Strategic potential: It can support partner countries in combating natural disasters (Nepal), political and humanitarian crises (Maldives, Afghanistan), and in building social infrastructure (Kenya, Madagascar).
• Exploring possibility of sharing India’s developmental experience: Learnings from programmes like JAM trinity, Ayushman Bharat and other initiatives like Gati Shakti could be absorbed in the portfolio to be shared with fellow developing countries.

Conclusion: It is high time India restructures its development finance apparatus for deeper and effective engagement and to address the rapidly evolving newer competitive development financing landscape.