Safe drinking water and toilets keep more girls in school. Picture: DFID
India is a key strategic partner to the UK and the largest democracy in the Commonwealth. India is growing fast and is making good progress on tackling poverty. However, India is still home to one third of the world's people living below $1.25 (80 pence) a day and the average income is one third of China's.
Eight states in India are home to 65% of India's poor. More than half of the young children in Madhya Pradesh are undernourished; and only one in four people in Bihar has access to a toilet.
Poverty reduction in these states remains critical to global success in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Inclusive growth and development is a top priority for the government of India and we will work in partnership to build on their own poverty reduction schemes.
We are bringing our development partnership up to date. As India's economy grows, poverty reduces and India becomes more prominent in world affairs, our development partnership with India will become about sharing expertise, supporting innovation and building skills. Over the next four years our top priorities will be as follows.
Top priorities
- Focus on the poorest people in India's low income states: UK assistance will benefit the poorest people in three poor states - Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa - reinforcing the deep, productive partnerships we have built over the last decade
- Put women and girls at the heart of our work: the UK will invest in girls' education; access to finance, skills and low carbon energy; safe birth, children by choice and reducing violence against women; children's health and nutrition; and sanitation
- Catalyse the private sector's potential to combat poverty: to support growth in the low income states the UK will develop programmes of pro-poor private investment to deliver jobs, products, infrastructure and basic services
- Deepen our engagement with India on global issues where there may be benefits for poor people elsewhere: such as growth and trade, climate change, resource scarcity and health and disease control
We will spend £280 million per year in India until 2015.