To start with, some facts:

• India is the world's sixth largest and second fastest growing    producer of greenhouse gases.
• Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai are three of the world's ten most    polluted cities.
• Two-thirds of city dwellers lack sewerage; one-third lack potable    water.
• India urban population grows equivalent of another New York    City every year. This equals to a projected urban population of    over 500 million in 20 years.

Pollution and destruction of natural resources have reached such dimensions in India that in some regions they pose an imminent risk to human health. Reasons lie on the one hand in poverty and underdevelopment, on the other hand in rapid and sometime uncontrolled industrialisation and urbanization. Urban conglomerations as well as rural areas are increasingly affected.

Regarding these facts, India and Germany consider sustainable environmental development as the overall goal of a development policy. Germany is already making a considerable contribution in strengthening India's environmental management through supporting development projects related to environmental management, involving technical cooperation projects and financial cooperation projects.