European development bank to woo Indian investment

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development chief Sir Suma Chakrabarti is visiting India early next month to attract investment from corporates.
Chakrabarti will meet big corporate houses such as Tata group, Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Industries in Mumbai and Delhi during March 4-7. The EBRD chief will also update Finance Minister P Chidambaram on discussion with corporates.
The visit follows British premier David Cameron's visit to India this week.
"There is a good track record of cooperation between India and the EBRD in the past but given the sheer size of the Indian private sector, that cooperation should be much, much stronger. This visit is aimed at rejuvenating old links as well as building new ones," Chakrabarti told reporters at the bank's headquarters here yesterday.

Cameron during his India visit had sought a "special relationship" between the two countries, saying it is "about the future and not the past".
India is a global player and the Indian government�s goals are consistent with the EBRD�s goals of achieving sustainable economic systems that help build regional and political stability, he said.

"I will be updating Mr Chidambaram on my discussions with Indian companies such as the Tatas, Mahindras, Reliance, JSW Steel and Exim Bank in Mumbai within this larger political context," he told the Indian Journalists� Association.
The value of joint India-EBRD investment stood at 806.8 million euro last year, with Indian investment accounting for 165.3 million euro.

The EBRD is an international development bank that invests in projects to create sustainable open-market economies.
India is an important source of foreign direct investment (FDI) within its scope of operations, which include 34 countries from central and Eastern Europe to central Asia, he said.
The key Indian investors have been the Tata Group, across the automotive, tourism and information technology sectors; the Mahindra Group, in relation to agricultural equipment; Reliance Industries in the field of petrochemicals and oil products; and Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO) in chemicals, he said.