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Bombay, November 26: After his week-long tour, the World Bank President, Mr Robert McNamara, gave the assurance that the World Bank "intends to play its part" in seeing that India's needs are met fully", even as India plays its part by seeing that "domestic resources are fully mobilized". He ended the tour with a hectic day of discussions in Bombay with Reserve Bank and industrial finance officials, industrialists, bankers, economists, officers concerned with the development of the Bombay-Poona metropolitan area, and the Deputy Prime Minister.

From all these and his meetings in Delhi, Calcutta, and Madras, the World Bank chief must have had a fair idea of the developmental and social tasks that the country faces as it slowly emerges from three years of industrial recession. His final statement, however, indicates that rather than helping industry as hitherto, World -Bank aid will concentrate on agriculture and agro-industries, family planning and some other overheads.

In Mr McNamara's statement there is only one line which refers to industry-- that the break-through in agriculture should support a jump in industrial production. Thus the World Bank favours first things first, a home truth that the Planners themselves have come to accept after the wrong direction taken by the three Plans.

"I have great hopes for India's future," said Mr McNamara. Underlying this was his highly optimistic assessment of the progress made in agriculture already, and the further growth in productivity that can be achieved by using high-yielding seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, tractors, and irrigation. He was impressed by the "successful agricultural revolution which is taking place, with some stops and starts, all over your subcontinent", and noted that this will give a stimulus which should move industry out of its recession. But this, brief reference carries with it a recognition of the need for continued non-project assistance to finance imports of raw materials and the maintenance needs of industry.

The point was emphasizedand acknowledged by Mr McNamaraby the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation, the main industrial financing agency in the private sector. The ICICI has already, taken from the World Bank seven lines of credit aggregating $165 million. The ICICI stated that it expects in the near future a 50 per cent expansion in its lending activities, and will seek an eighth line of credit from the World Bank next year.

The World Bank is interested in helping to finance the development of the metropolitan areas. Mr McNamara met civic and Government officials in Calcutta and Madras. In Bombay he was given an idea of the worsening problems of the highly industrialized Bombay-Poona area. Drinking water, road and rail arteries, slum clearance, satellite towns, etc., are estimated to cost Rs 1,000 crores in the next two decades. A Regional Metropolitan Board is at work, and its plans were submitted to the World Bank President for foreign exchange assistance.

There was some publicity from Delhi that the Commerce Minister, Mr Dinesh Singh, would fly to Bombay at the week-end to tackle the crisis in the cotton industry. More than 80 mills have closed, and over 80,000 men are out of work. The Minister did come, but the talks lasted hardly an hour and ended in a "damp squib", as an industry source put it. This disappointment is reflected in a further fall of mill shares.

Official spokesmen have lately shown some recognition that the crisis is not all due to mismanagement and frittering away of profits, but to high cost of cotton, wages, etc., and waning purchasing power due to inflation. On top of this, excise levies have risen to Rs 117 crores per year, from almost nil when planning began. As Mr Naval Tata, head of the Tata mills, has said, "It is a classic example of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs".

None of these problems has moved an inch towards amelioration. The Commerce Minister did not propose any short-term remedy, and he rejected the industrys demand for decontrol or an increase in controlled prices. That costs of production have gone up by 15 per cent since the last price revision was ignored. The only sign of hope is that there is a slight upward trend in the wholesale offtake of cloth. If this continues, sales will provide some funds. A consumer survey by the official Textile Committee hopes that demand will rise on account of the increase in farm incomes.

The Minister indicated that some long-term remedies are under consideration, but they will form part of the fourth plan. They will help the industry to modernize itself over a period, and will promote exports. Since incentive schemes have been re-introduced, textile exports have risen for the first time since devaluation. They are likely to reach Rs 106 crores this year and may go up to Rs 120 crores in 1969-70. The Minister said that being the oldest and largest industry in India, it is vital to the economy, and therefore the Government and the industry should work together for its progress. Well, this noble sentiment coming from Mr Dinesh Singh is welcome.

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