ISO 14000 has started making significant headway in India as large industries, both in the public and private sector, have started the process that leads to the certification. ISO certificates for quality assurance, resulting in healthier manufacturing practices, have also contributed towards this eco-friendly trend.

The wider use of cleaner vehicle fuel such as unleaded petrol and compressed natural gas, and the success of joint forest management are some of the significant positive contributions in this sector, the review said.

According to the bank, governments alone cannot continue investment in this area because it needs to invest heavily in urban and regionalinfrastructure ranging from roads to water supply and sanitation to telecommunications, all of which have low cost recovery. Its best role would be in regulatory and monitoring capacity.

The review said private sector solutions are slowly replacing public sector financing in industrial pollution control. By way of example, it noted the success of the privately owned common effluent treatment plants in Andhra Pradesh. These plants, which have been set up with funds made available by the polluting industries themselves in a particular industrial area, are good instances of self-regulation for a better environment by the private sector.

According to the review, growing public awareness and opinion has contributed to the rising trend in investments in pollution control and better environmental practices. Strong judicial action regarding environmental issues has provided the much needed impetus for industrial and government action in many cases, the review noted. Environmental concerns are also beingmainstreamed in projects such as the diversified agriculture project by the Uttar Pradesh government and the coal environment and social rehabilitation projects undertaken by a few state governments.

The World Bank is moving away from its ``stand alone'' environmental investments due to the region's lack of capacity to implement various projects. Instead, the bank is more interested into mainstreaming its concerns in sectoral projects like transport, fishery and education. The mainstreaming approach involves developing environmental capacities at state and local levels. The approach focusses more closely on appropriate policies, good management and pollution abatement incentives rather than specific environment problems, the bank said.

This approach also encourages private sector investment and community involvement in addressing pollution problems and focusses the role of the government more on regulatory concerns rather than investment responsibilities. The review, however, expressed its concern overthe increasing pollution and degradation of coastal areas and unsustainable land use, which continue to dog the region.