India - Country Strategy Progress Report : for the period FY2005-2008

The India Country Strategy (CAS) for FY05-08 was prepared at an important juncture: a coalition of political parties led by Indian National Congress-which fought the election on the plank of "reforms with a human face"-was voted to power in May 2004, and the Indian economy emerged out of a slump to register an unprecedented growth rate of 8.4 percent in 2003/04. Given the fortuitous timing, the CAS anticipated the impending shift in the policy stance toward a more inclusive development agenda and the approaching economic boom-thereby internalizing them in its design and contents. As a result, nearly two and a half years since its Board approval, the core strategy of the 2004 CAS remains largely unchanged. This report reviews the progress made in implementing the CAS, and discusses how the strategy will be deployed for the remaining period. It begins with an overview of the country context, assessing political, economic, and social developments since the CAS discussions, then describes the experience to date, and finally suggests the way forward for the Bank Group, and presents the risks.