British aid to India jump by 70% in spite of public finances pressure

British aid to India to jump by 70% in spite of growing pressure on public finances and the country’s fast-growing economy – that has allowed it to launch its own space programme

• British aid to India will rise from £33.4million last year to £57million next year 
• It comes amid intense government effort to finalise a new trade deal with India 

British aid to India is set to jump by 70 per cent, despite repeated pledges from ministers to axe it.

Figures buried in the Foreign Office’s annual report show that aid to the fast-growing economy will rise from £33.4 million last year to £57 million next year in spite of growing pressure on the public finances.

The outlay comes against the backdrop of increasing controversy over aid to the country because of the rapid economic development that has allowed it to launch its own space programme.

The surge in spending also comes amid intense government effort to finalise a new trade deal with India. Meanwhile, promises were made more than a decade ago that the aid programme to India would be wound up.

In 2011, the then international development secretary Andrew Mitchell said it would ‘not continue for very much longer’. The following year, India’s then finance minister suggested his country no longer needed the cash, describing it as ‘peanuts’.

Figures buried in the Foreign Office’s annual report show that aid to the fast-growing economy will rise from £33.4 million last year to £57 million next year in spite of growing pressure on the public finances (Pictured: Whitehall

Later in 2012, the Government pledged to end bilateral aid to India by 2016 as part of a move away from funding ‘middle income countries’.

But ministers have continued to send the country tens of millions of pounds a year.

An assessment by the Independent Commission on Aid Impact last year, gave the UK’s India programme an amber-red rating – the second-worst available.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘The foreign aid debacle has been allowed to carry on for far too long.

‘Arbitrary spending targets have seen untold millions sent abroad to fund spurious projects in countries with larger economies than our own.

‘To create a fairer deal for taxpayers, ministers should scrap the target and make aid available when truly needed.’

The Foreign Office was asked to comment but did not respond.

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