Family group in a slum - Patna.
Home to a world-beating information technology industry and a multitude of cultures and languages, India is the world’s largest democracy. The country has accomplished a great deal since independence in 1947, making slow but steady progress. However, despite its strong economic growth, the scale of its need is huge. Today, some 828 million Indians - 76% of the population - live in poverty, comprising one third of the world’s poor.
DFID’s largest country programme and its largest country office are in India. Reducing poverty here is crucial to the global success of the Millennium Development Goals. In 2002-07, we gave more than £1 billion to India, and from 2008 to 2011, we will be investing another £825 million, up to £500 million of which will be spent on health and education.