The environmental industry is quite nebulously defined. Less a sector than an agglomeration of many kinds of goods, services and technologies, this us $550 billion industry is nevertheless on a growth roll. Especially in the developing world, where environmental regulation is becoming more stringent, and whose exports must match up to developed country standards. While the environmental market in developed countries grew meagrely at 1.6 per cent in 2000 and 2001, its rate of growth in developing countries was a healthy 7-8 per cent in the same period. An Indo-German Chamber of Commerce study, published in February 2001, estimated that developing countries would account for nearly 20 per cent of the global environmental market by 2010. Asia alone would account for 14 per cent, up from 4 per cent in 1996.

Valued at us $4.36 billion in 2002, the Indian environmental market is also estimated to annually grow at a rate of 15 per cent, according to a draft study by the Indian Council for Research in International Economic Relations on trade in environmental services.

It isn’t surprising, therefore, that the world’s leading exporters