This quantum of investment would make India the single largest recipient of IFC funds in terms of new approvals worldwide. In overall terms, India has been the sixth largest recipient of IFC funds over the years. IFC has a $608 million portfolio in India as of December 31, 2000 which consists of investments in 70 companies. This includes $358 million in A loans - IFC's own loans - and guarantees, $250 million in equity, and $101 million in B loans - loans which are administered by IFC but are extended by other entities.

The areas that IFC is focussing on in India are financial services, infrastructure, health and education, small-and-medium-enterprises (SMEs) and the new economy sector. In the financial services sector, IFC is concentrating on structured finance products like securitisation, housing finance, trade finance and bringing small-and-medium-enterprises to the market.

Down the road, IFC will be looking at SME receivables, rural and micro-finance. It is trying to find financial intermediaries to lend to the poor. For this purpose, IFC is investing in `Basix' - a non-governmental organisation providing micro-finance. It will be investing in entities that operate on a commercial basis without any subsidy and will be able to borrow and lend on their account.

IFC is seeking to make a qualitative investment in the corporate environment and create an environment of social responsibility by nurturing enterprises which help people indirectly. The entities would have to be financially sustainable. IFC's head for Mumbai, Loy Pires, explained IFC's philosophy when he said: "When you support a vibrant growing company, it creates jobs for people at large and helps them to participate in the economy. A socially conscious corporate helps in community development, environmental protection, trains and hires more people, thus resulting in overall improvement."

IFC envisages participating in the privatisation process and the insurance sector at a later date. IFC used to be the first port of call during pre-liberalisation days. But now top companies can obtain finance at good prices. So IFC is also changing as part of its efforts to keep pace with the times. It will be concentrating on the middle-segment downwards in India.

India is the only country in the world where IFC has two offices. The Mumbai office looks after the financial sector while the New Delhi office looks after the manufacturing sector. These two offices are the South Asia hub of IFC. As Loy Pires sums it up : "Our goal is to find the next generation of clients who have both integrity and vision."

IFC started operations in India in 1958 and has approved 175 projects, providing almost $2 billion in financing from its own account and mobilising $730 million through its loan syndication programme. The total project cost of these projects is close to $14 billion.