Symposium Showcases Innovative Financing for Increasing Rural Incomes to Sustain Natural Resources

National Symposium on Umbrella Programme for Natural Resource Management

National Symposium on Umbrella Programme for Natural Resource Management

A national symposium to showcase the achievements of the NABARD’s flagship direct finance Umbrella Programme for Natural Resource Management was held in coordination with the German financing and technical partners KfW and GIZ in New Delhi on March 7, 2014.

The event helped to:

  • Increase national-level awareness on the programme as a sustainable and responsible business approach;
  • Engage various stakeholders in the up-scaling and replication of the approach.

Rajesh Kumar Khullar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, was Chief Guest of the event, which was attended by Heiko Warnken, Head of Economic Cooperation and Development, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in India, Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Chairman, NABARD, Stefan Helming, Country Director, GIZ India, Peter Hilliges, Country Director, KFW and H. R. Dave, Chief General Manager, NABARD, inaugurated the symposium with lighting of the lamp.

Representatives from key ministries, bilateral and multilateral agencies, commercial banks, foundations, private sector and civil society organizations also participated. Mr. Khullar, in his inaugural speech said, “Germany has been one of our strongest bilateral partners. The German cooperation offers us an opportunity to experiment with innovative models of development and they offer prospects for Government of India to deploy resources in taking up larger projects as replication models. This, in turn, throws up valuable learning lessons for state governments."