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Tories to 'slash UK's £280m India aid by HALF' amid claims the country is too rich to receive handouts
The International Development Secretary will this week unveil plans to slash Britain's controversial £280"‰million-a-year aid budget to India.
Justine Greening will outline how the payments could be reduced amid claims the country is too rich to need handouts.
Sources suggest that Miss Greening may cut the subsidies by up to half.
The move comes amid mounting criticism that Britain's overseas aid programme – which is set to reach more than £12"‰billion by 2014 – cannot be justified at a time of spending cuts back home.
However, The Mail on Sunday understands that Ms Greening will merely divert money sent to India to poorer countries – not cut the overall aid budget.
Britain sends about £280"‰million a year to India even though the country has its own space programme and its leaders claim it does not need the cash from the UK.
The rapidly industrialising country, whose economy is ranked tenth in the world on one measure, recently earmarked £52"‰million to send a probe to Mars.
Last February, India's then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee – now the country's president – embarrassed UK aid chiefs by saying the payments were 'a peanut in our total development expenditure'.
The Mail on Sunday has also revealed how the UK spent tens of millions of pounds on an army of consultants to tell India how to spend the cash.
The Department for International Development has defended the subsidies, saying India is still home to a third of the world's poor who survive on less than 80p a day.
Ms Greening, a former accountant who only took on the international aid brief only two months ago, revealed last month that she was in talks with India over turning off the aid tap.
She told last month's Tory conference: 'We should recognise that as countries get richer, we need to be responsible about how we transition in our relationship with them from aid to trade.
'Those are the discussions that I am having with the Indian government at the moment.'
Ms Greening also promised a 'new approach' to ensure every pound of British aid spent around the world had the 'biggest impact'.
Although she has backed David Cameron's controversial pledge to increase UK overseas aid to 0.7 per cent of the nation's GDP, the former Transport Minister was portrayed as sceptical of the initiative when she was appointed International Development Secretary last month.
According to one account, she greeted the job offer by saying: 'I did not bloody well come into politics to distribute money to people in poor countries!' Officials have denied this.
But pressure has been mounting on the Prime Minister to accept the aid pledge is unsustainable when spending on schools and hospitals is being squeezed at home.
Last month, it was disclosed that the programme was rising so fast it would hit £12.6"‰billion a year in 2014 – outstripping the £12.1"‰billion spent on police forces.
Senior Tory peer Lord Ashcroft has urged Mr Cameron to turn off the 'golden tap' on foreign aid, warning that it bankrolls corrupt dictators.
Lord Ashcroft, who has been made an adviser by the Prime Minister, said the Government should stop 'spraying around' taxpayers' money in the developing world.
Only last week, former UN chief Kofi Annan backed calls for Britain to stop giving aid to wealthy countries and target it instead at 'weaker' parts of the world.
Justine Greening: Tories to 'slash UK's £280m India aid by HALF' amid claims the country is too rich for handouts | Mail Online
The International Development Secretary will this week unveil plans to slash Britain's controversial £280"‰million-a-year aid budget to India.
Justine Greening will outline how the payments could be reduced amid claims the country is too rich to need handouts.
Sources suggest that Miss Greening may cut the subsidies by up to half.
The move comes amid mounting criticism that Britain's overseas aid programme – which is set to reach more than £12"‰billion by 2014 – cannot be justified at a time of spending cuts back home.
However, The Mail on Sunday understands that Ms Greening will merely divert money sent to India to poorer countries – not cut the overall aid budget.
Britain sends about £280"‰million a year to India even though the country has its own space programme and its leaders claim it does not need the cash from the UK.
The rapidly industrialising country, whose economy is ranked tenth in the world on one measure, recently earmarked £52"‰million to send a probe to Mars.
Last February, India's then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee – now the country's president – embarrassed UK aid chiefs by saying the payments were 'a peanut in our total development expenditure'.
The Mail on Sunday has also revealed how the UK spent tens of millions of pounds on an army of consultants to tell India how to spend the cash.
The Department for International Development has defended the subsidies, saying India is still home to a third of the world's poor who survive on less than 80p a day.
Ms Greening, a former accountant who only took on the international aid brief only two months ago, revealed last month that she was in talks with India over turning off the aid tap.
She told last month's Tory conference: 'We should recognise that as countries get richer, we need to be responsible about how we transition in our relationship with them from aid to trade.
'Those are the discussions that I am having with the Indian government at the moment.'
Ms Greening also promised a 'new approach' to ensure every pound of British aid spent around the world had the 'biggest impact'.
Although she has backed David Cameron's controversial pledge to increase UK overseas aid to 0.7 per cent of the nation's GDP, the former Transport Minister was portrayed as sceptical of the initiative when she was appointed International Development Secretary last month.
According to one account, she greeted the job offer by saying: 'I did not bloody well come into politics to distribute money to people in poor countries!' Officials have denied this.
But pressure has been mounting on the Prime Minister to accept the aid pledge is unsustainable when spending on schools and hospitals is being squeezed at home.
Last month, it was disclosed that the programme was rising so fast it would hit £12.6"‰billion a year in 2014 – outstripping the £12.1"‰billion spent on police forces.
Senior Tory peer Lord Ashcroft has urged Mr Cameron to turn off the 'golden tap' on foreign aid, warning that it bankrolls corrupt dictators.
Lord Ashcroft, who has been made an adviser by the Prime Minister, said the Government should stop 'spraying around' taxpayers' money in the developing world.
Only last week, former UN chief Kofi Annan backed calls for Britain to stop giving aid to wealthy countries and target it instead at 'weaker' parts of the world.
Justine Greening: Tories to 'slash UK's £280m India aid by HALF' amid claims the country is too rich for handouts | Mail Online
