India

In 2011 India’s gross national income (GNI) reached US$1.7 trillion, ranking it the ninth largest economy in the world yet over 30% of India’s population of 1.2 billion lives on less than US$1.25 a day (World Bank). By 2020 India is expected to be the third largest economy in the world. However, despite rapid growth in its economy, India’s humanitarian aid contribution is low, peaking at US$37 million in 2010. In addition, India is still a recipient of official development assistance (ODA) and was the eighth largest recipient in 2009 (US$2.5 billion).

In recent years India has made efforts to reduce external aid. In 2003, it declared that only five countries (Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States and Russia) and the European Union (EU) could continue providing direct assistance. Projects funded by other bilateral donors could only be channelled through multilateral mechanisms. Recently however, a number of OECD DAC donors have planned to reduce or cut aid to some BRICS countries. In November 2012 the UK government stated that it would end direct aid to 1India by 2015 and transition instead to technical assistance. The EU announced in its Multiannual Financial Framework 2014–2020 that it will end bilateral aid to 17 upper middle-income countries, as well as two large lower-income countries whose GDP is larger than 1% of global GDP (India and Indonesia).

In an effort to improve the transparency of its foreign aid operations, the Indian government has established a new body for governing India’s outgoing development assistance, the Development Partnership Administration (DPA). The DPA, which became operational in March 2012, sits under the Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and will have an estimated budget of US$15 billion over the next five years.

A recent study by GPPi looks at India’s role as a humanitarian donor, highlighting challenges and opportunities.