62676 LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIPS WITH EMERGING PLAYERS India: Long-term partnership with Socially-responsible Regional Player Multiple rounds of IFC investment in diversified Indian company DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd. (“DSCL” or the “Company”) have led to strong growth for the Company and for surrounding communities in India. IFC has financed expansions and environmental improvements for the Company’s chemical and agri-business lines, a relationship that dates back to 2004. This socially-responsible, research-focused Company is focused on finding new solutions to some of its country’s most vexing challenges, such as food security. Among the company’s recent efforts: the Company is investigating commercial molecular breeding technologies to develop hybrid rice varieties that have greater yields and are resistant to disease, drought and flooding. Such a breakthrough could make a significant difference in a region that has been battered by natural disasters in recent years, causing serious agricultural losses and contributing to spikes in food prices that the nation’s poor can ill-afford. By some estimates, hybrid rice varieties can yield 20-25 percent more than conventional varieties. The Company also produces non-genetically modified hybrid rice and corn varieties, as well as high-performing fertilizers to increase crop yields. It also undertakes various other initiatives towards improving farm productivity. IFC’s first investment, a US$30 million long-term loan, supported expansion of the Company’s Chlor-Alkali, PVC resin and carbide production facilities in the Indian state of Rajasthan, to improve its environmental footprint with energy efficiency and cleaner production upgrades and to broaden the network of rural retail stores that are evolving as Business Centres to serve the farmer and his family needs. A second IFC investment of US$6.6 million is helping the Company’s sugar division to expand production and setup facilities in new areas which enables rural development in a larger way. This investment also helped in improving its waste recovery and energy efficiency. The project is part of the Company’s strategy to take advantage of the growth in India sugar market and strengthen its competitiveness through developing value-added business, while improving its cost advantage by reducing energy related production costs. In 2008, IFC committed a third-round of investment to DSCL, a US$50 million long-term loan to help finance environmental upgrades that minimize incremental effluent discharges, as well as additional capacity expansions for its rapidly growing chemical and sugar operations. DSCL is an active corporate citizen in the communities where it operates. The company provides financial support for local school systems, funding a school lunch program that provides free lunches for more than 23,000 children in more than 450 schools, as well as employment for local women, who staff the cafeterias, among other contributions to the Society. IFC also works alongside DSCL in some of its social initiatives.