Trade in environmental services and technologies

and Indian firms. The project will be implemented by the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) with help from a U.S. contractor, and will include loans and grants to firms for purchase of environmental services and technology (EST); marketing, promotional, and information activities; and support to trade and professional associations. The majority of project funds ($20 million) will be channeled through ICICI for loans and conditional grants. Loans will be made for funding the purchase of U.S. or Indian ESTs, for establishing facilities for producing pollution control or abatement equipment, and for associated transaction costs (joint ventures, licenses, etc.). Conditional grants will be disbursed without a specific schedule for repayment, but eventually a percentage of sales generated via the grant will be repaid to ICICI, up to double the grant amount. The grants may be used for feasibility studies and start-up expenses related to the manufacture of U.S. technology in India under license or a joint venture arrangement. Loans may also be made through other lenders, such as commercial banks. Rather than focusing on a specific industrial subsector or geographical area, the project will assess Indian needs for pollution prevention/control technology and match these with technologies in which the United States has a comparative advantage. Areas in which such needs have been identified include: water and air pollution control; solid waste management; hazardous waste management; in-plant control of waste production and efficient use of process water and of energy; and reduction of noise pollution. TA will be available to ICICI"s clients and will include a variety of marketing and information activities, both in conjunction with and independent of the financing component. The project will begin with a major campaign to market the project to U.S. and Indian clients, to market U.S. ESTs to potential users, and to promote the Indian market to U.S. suppliers. Activities will include trade and investment tours for both U.S. and Indian firms, technology exhibitions, and seminars and training programs. Over the longer-term, promotion will focus on upgrading the information capabilities of existing Indian organizations, including chambers of commerce and trade associations, that provide information on U.S. EST suppliers, and also on strengthening the information network from the U.S. side. The project will also provide TA to firms in identifying appropriate ESTs to solve a pollution abatement or control problem, and/or locating potential partners for licensing agreements or joint ventures. Finally, the project will include grants to trade and professional organizations whose members include industries that must address pollution abatement and control, or to EST providers.