Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - November 26, 2006
Volatile global oil prices also threatened to unsettle India's economy, which has grown 8% annually over the past three years, driven by an unprecedented boom in consumerism and a surge in new investments, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said.
"Water poses the greatest challenge ... we are at risk here," Chidambaram told 700 odd delegates to the India economic Summit organized by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum.
The three-day annual summit, which ends Tuesday, comes at a time when the Indian economy is showing signs that its growth could accelerate further in the coming years. But the focus at this year's meeting was on the risks India faces going forward.
India has 18% of the world's population but only 4% of the water resources. A fifth of the country suffers from acute water shortages, and Chidambaram said many Indian states are often found squabbling with each other water.
Only 60% of the country's 1 billion people have access to safe drinking water and according to World Bank estimates a fifth of communicable diseases in the country are caused by contaminated water.
Social and political tensions over access to water may cause short- and long-term damage to the business and investment climate in India, the World Economic Forum said in a paper titled India at Risk.
The paper listed five other major risks: spread of HIV and tuberculosis, volatile oil prices, population growth, rising protectionism and climate change.
India has the world's highest number of HIV-infected people, totaling at least 5.1 million as per government estimates. Some independent agencies say the number of Indian infected with the deadly virus that causes AIDS is actually much higher than reported by the government.
"I think we are ducking the issue," Chidambaram said.
His comments come in the wake of a recent warning by the UNAIDS recently warned that the infection, if not checked, could hit as much as 3% of India's adult population.
Any escalation of the disease will likely "hamper economic development by reducing work-forces, diminishing productivity and cutting household incomes," the Forum said in its paper.
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