The 1.5-billion-dollar loan is expected to mean big business for Indian drug companies like Cipla and Ranbaxy that manufacture generic anti-retroviral drugs to combat HIV/AIDS, The Economic Times said.

In addition to promoting India's role as a global donor, India's believes the loan package will help India's generic pharmaceutical makers seize a 20 to 25 percent share of the six-billion-dollar-a-year African anti-retroviral AIDS drugs market, the newspaper said.

The fund size was finalised by an inter-ministerial group and the loan would be disbursed over the next five years, the newspaper said.

In all, 27 countries, including 17 African nations, will benefit.

Despite promises of billions of dollars to fight the illness infecting an estimated 40 million people worldwide, the number of poor with access to anti-retroviral drugs is negligible, reports say.

India also has its own major AIDS problem with an estimated 4.58 million infected people, the second highest number in the world after South Africa which has five million.

Indian companies announced last year they would slash costs for AIDS drugs to 38 cents a day for the developing world for the triple-drug regimen needed to treat the illness, for which there is as yet no final cure nor vaccine.

TERRA.WIRE