Germany to offer Euro 1.09 b loan To India

Friday, 7 February 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

NEW DELHI(Reuters): Germany has agreed to offer 1.09 billion euro ($1.47 billion) loan to India – it’s highest ever since 1958 – for various development projects, a government statement said on Wednesday.

Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe, and the bilateral trade touched $21.6 billion in the 2012/13 fiscal year that ended March, down nearly 8 percent from the previous fiscal year, trade ministry estimates show. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Gerd Mueller, Germany’s minister for economic cooperation and development signed the agreement, under which the European nation will offer loans at lower interest rates to sectors as varied as power, affordable housing and and microfinance. Mueller is accompanying German President Joachim Gauck, who is on a visit to India along with a business delegation. “Energy, environment and sustainable economic development are priority sectors under bilateral development cooperation between India and Germany, which now spans over a period of more than 50 years,” the statement said.