IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has reinforced its partnership with Cairn India with the opening of an enterprise centre. The basic purpose of the partnership was to support community and local small businesses development initiatives in and around Barmer in Rajasthan, where Cairn has made significant oil and gas discoveries.
Lars Thunell, IFC executive vice-president and CEO, and Rahul Dhir, CEO of Cairn India, inaugurated the new facility at the Industrial Training Institute. Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhra Raje was the chief guest at the opening ceremony.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dhir said, “This is an important facility which we hope will be of great value to the local communities in and around our operations in Rajasthan. We aim to make a positive difference wherever we operate. We also see that skills developed at the enterprise centre can be of long term benefit for the people of this region. The consistent support we have experienced in Rajasthan has been critical to our success and we value all our relationships highly.”
A central component of the IFC-Cairn development programme is to establish an enterprise centre which will help in providing information and expertise on business practices to local small and medium-sized firms in Barmer, supporting them to become potential suppliers and service providers to the oil and gas operation and other ventures in the region. “IFC’s goal is to make a difference by reducing poverty in emerging markets. We believe that the private sector is key to development since it is the most important engine for growth and job creation,” said IFC’s Lars Thunell.