US nuclear firms said on Monday they were worried land scarcity in India could further delay a joint atomic deal already hobbled by policy holdups over issues such as accident liability protection.
A 50-member US business delegation this week is seeking to push the implementation of the deal, which promises to open up India's multi-billion-dollar nuclear market to American firms.
US firms already worry over delays such as writing a new Indian law to limit US firms' liability in case of an industrial accident and differences over a fuel reprocessing pact. Recent protests over land acquisition for building reactors has added to their uncertainty.
India and the United States signed a civilian nuclear deal last year, ending India's nuclear isolation since it tested a nuclear device in 1974 and opening up its atomic market for firms such as General Electric Co and Westinghouse Electric Co, a subsidiary of Japan's Toshiba Corp.
But with delays in implementation of the deal, U.S. firms have lagged in a competitive scramble with Russian and French firms whose governments guarantee their liability in case of an industrial accident.
"Yes, we realise land acquisition is a problem here," Timothy Richards, head of international energy policy at General Electric (GE.N) told Reuters.
In India, farmland acquisition has highlighted a broader standoff between industry and farmers in a country where two-thirds of the population lives on agriculture.
India identified two sites in July for U.S. firms to build reactors but the news was greeted with noisy protests by farmers refusing to give up their land.
Hundreds of poor farmers marched in New Delhi in October to protest against the acquisition of land for a proposed nuclear power plant in the western state of Maharashtra.
U.S. firms say they are leaving the task of land acquisition to the Indian government. Craig Hansen, Vice President of Babcock and Wilcox, a leading U.S. nuclear power generation company, said he hoped "the opportunity will outweigh the problems".
Meena Mutyala, business leader of Westinghouse's India strategy, said issues which also required resolution included fuel reprocessing and export licencing.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Stimulus exit has to be graded: RBI dy governor
The Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn on Saturday said exiting from the accommodative money policy has to be a gradual process and cannot be done at one single stroke.
A surprise 7.9 per cent Q2 growth numbers is a new element but not the only factor in determining the monetary policy, while inflation is giving divergent signals between the rate of rise in prices of food and manufactured items, Gokarn said on Saturday.
"When you talk of exit policies, you have to see it as a graded process and not a one-off approach. Focusing on growth for one year to abandoning growth to focus on inflation is a transition...Growth number is one input to them it is not the only factor," he said on the sidelines of a Ficci seminar.
It can be noted that food inflation had crossed 17 per cent in the third week of November, while overall inflation was just 1.34 per cent in October.
"You have huge divergence here and it is a little unfair to say that we should be looking at only 17 per cent and not at 1.34 per cent.
:We have to take all perspective on inflation and the significance of food inflation is that it is a risk that translates into wider spiral through expectations and that is something we have to be concerned about," Gokarn said.
Gokarn agreed that the central bank's focus has now shifted from just promoting economic growth to striking a balance between economic expansion and curbing inflation.
"We have to ensure that recovery is not hurt while at the same time ensure that inflationary pressure do not go out of control," the RBI Deputy Governor said.
After the global financial crisis deepened following the collapse of the American financial powerhouse Lehman Brothers in the middle of September last year, RBI has unleashed many liquidity easing measures.
It has for the first time hinted exiting from these measures symbolically at the October monetary review.
He also said growth forecast for this fiscal might be upped after the strong second quarter numbers. When asked whether growth numbers would be revised by RBI, he said, "possibly." RBI has projected six per cent GDP growth with an upward bias.
Gokarn expects credit growth to pick up if the economic recovery is sustained.
A surprise 7.9 per cent Q2 growth numbers is a new element but not the only factor in determining the monetary policy, while inflation is giving divergent signals between the rate of rise in prices of food and manufactured items, Gokarn said on Saturday.
"When you talk of exit policies, you have to see it as a graded process and not a one-off approach. Focusing on growth for one year to abandoning growth to focus on inflation is a transition...Growth number is one input to them it is not the only factor," he said on the sidelines of a Ficci seminar.
It can be noted that food inflation had crossed 17 per cent in the third week of November, while overall inflation was just 1.34 per cent in October.
"You have huge divergence here and it is a little unfair to say that we should be looking at only 17 per cent and not at 1.34 per cent.
:We have to take all perspective on inflation and the significance of food inflation is that it is a risk that translates into wider spiral through expectations and that is something we have to be concerned about," Gokarn said.
Gokarn agreed that the central bank's focus has now shifted from just promoting economic growth to striking a balance between economic expansion and curbing inflation.
"We have to ensure that recovery is not hurt while at the same time ensure that inflationary pressure do not go out of control," the RBI Deputy Governor said.
After the global financial crisis deepened following the collapse of the American financial powerhouse Lehman Brothers in the middle of September last year, RBI has unleashed many liquidity easing measures.
It has for the first time hinted exiting from these measures symbolically at the October monetary review.
He also said growth forecast for this fiscal might be upped after the strong second quarter numbers. When asked whether growth numbers would be revised by RBI, he said, "possibly." RBI has projected six per cent GDP growth with an upward bias.
Gokarn expects credit growth to pick up if the economic recovery is sustained.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
China backs India's stand on climate change
Ahead of the Copenhagen meet, China on Thursday backed India's stand that developing nations have no obligation to binding emission reduction targets and said it is ready to enhance "cooperation and coordination" between the two countries, which it termed as "victims" of climate change.
"We understand the current situation in India. We should take adaptation and mitigation measures based on our national conditions and capacity," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters here.
He said China is ready to strengthen "communication, coordination and cooperation" with India on climate change.
"China and India are both developing countries and victims of climate change," he said, noting the two sides have no obligation to undertake binding emission reduction targets.
"The two countries do not have the obligation to binding emission reduction targets on climate change," he said.
India has refused to accept binding emission cuts that it says could slow its economic growth and has instead harped on voluntary actions to stem emissions.
"Voluntary actions of developing nations will be subject to international monitoring, report and verification (MRV) as per agreed procedures to the extent that these actions receive international support," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said in New Delhi yesterday as world leaders are preparing to gather for talks on climate change in Copenhagen, from December 7 to 18.
Unlike India, China announced its targets last week, saying that by 2020 it would curb emissions per unit of gross domestic product by between 40 and 45 per cent compared to 2005 levels.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
WB may up lending 3 times to $7 bn to India this FY
The World Bank is expected to increase its lending to India by over three times to USD 7 billion in 2009-10 compared to the average $2.3 billion for the last four financial years.
"The average commitment during the last four financial years from the World Bank has been approximately $2.3 billion. However, in the current year, the commitments are expected to reach about $$ 7 billion," said an official statement, issued after the multilateral agency President Robert Zoellick met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today.
The current World Bank portfolio in India consists of 68 projects with a total commitment of $19.57 billion, the statement said. India is the largest borrower of the World Bank.At the meeting, Zoellick sought India’s support in widening the capital base of the World Bank so that it could appropriately meet the needs of developmental finance.
The request came after India agreed to invest 10 billion dollars from its reserves to supplement the IMF resources.Mukherjee said India has been at the forefront of providing greater capital support to all the multilateral development institutions and had supported a 200 per cent capital increase for the Asian Development Bank. Mukherjee hoped the voice of emerging and developing countries would be increased in the World Bank. According to the statement, the finance minister said he is looking forward to an expeditious completion of the reform process in the bank giving greater voice to and raising the quota of developing countries.Earlier, G-20 nations had decided to increase emerging nations’ share at the World Bank by at least 3 percentage points.
"The average commitment during the last four financial years from the World Bank has been approximately $2.3 billion. However, in the current year, the commitments are expected to reach about $$ 7 billion," said an official statement, issued after the multilateral agency President Robert Zoellick met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today.
The current World Bank portfolio in India consists of 68 projects with a total commitment of $19.57 billion, the statement said. India is the largest borrower of the World Bank.At the meeting, Zoellick sought India’s support in widening the capital base of the World Bank so that it could appropriately meet the needs of developmental finance.
The request came after India agreed to invest 10 billion dollars from its reserves to supplement the IMF resources.Mukherjee said India has been at the forefront of providing greater capital support to all the multilateral development institutions and had supported a 200 per cent capital increase for the Asian Development Bank. Mukherjee hoped the voice of emerging and developing countries would be increased in the World Bank. According to the statement, the finance minister said he is looking forward to an expeditious completion of the reform process in the bank giving greater voice to and raising the quota of developing countries.Earlier, G-20 nations had decided to increase emerging nations’ share at the World Bank by at least 3 percentage points.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Samsung's Low-end C5130 on Sale in India
Samsung has announced the launch of its latest low-end handset in India, the C5130, ahead of its global launch that is expected to happen soon. The C5130 is a slider phone that boasts of attractive features to attract the attention of a buyer on the look out for a cheap, but feature packed phone.
The C5130 boasts of a 2-inch, 262K colors display with 176 x 144 pixels resolution. The screen should be good enough to display multimedia content. The camera on the phone is a very basic 1.3MP unit that should suffice for casual (very casual!) imaging. It also comes with the now Samsung standard mobile tracker software. The company has also thrown in a music player, an FM radio
, and Bluetooth 2.0 as additional features.
The C5130 boasts of a 2-inch, 262K colors display with 176 x 144 pixels resolution. The screen should be good enough to display multimedia content. The camera on the phone is a very basic 1.3MP unit that should suffice for casual (very casual!) imaging. It also comes with the now Samsung standard mobile tracker software. The company has also thrown in a music player, an FM radio
ArcelorMittal to invest Rs 30k cr in Karnataka
Steel maker ArcelorMittal would invest Rs 30,000 crore in Karnataka towards setting up a 6,000-tonne steel plant in the state. A four-member high-level team from the world's largest steel maker met Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday to discuss details of the project.
The investments would also involve a co-generation power plant of 750 mega watt capacity. The government officials said Karnataka, which was in discussions with the company about the investment proposal, had shown the team six to seven sites for housing the project. “The company has finally chosen two sites. A final decision (on the site) will be made known to the government shortly,” an official at the chief minister's office told FE. He, however, declined to name the locations considered for the plant.
Karnataka's iron ore deposits are mainly spread across the north Karnataka districts of Bellary-Hospet and Koppal. The Karnataka government has extended all necessary support and incentives to the company to set up the plant, government officials said, adding that the company had sought approximately 4,000 acres for the plant.
ArcelorMittal's group board member Sudhir Maheshwari, chief executive (India and China) Vijay Kumar Bhatnagar, chief executive (India greenfield projects) Sanak Misra, corporate affairs manager Narasimha Hegde and strategy and planning head Prateek Kapur visited the minister to discuss the project details.
Earlier, the chief minister had told the media, “We have told the company to choose a site suitable for its requirements as the prestigious project is set to create about 10,000 jobs when implemented in the next four-five years.”
In a statement, ArcelorMittal chief executive LN Mittal said, “Our team had a constructive and positive meeting in response to an invitation from the Karnataka government. Karnataka is one of the most progressive states in India and, therefore, is an ideal place to build a world-class steel plant. The state government understands that India would continue to have a growing demand for steel and is keen on participating in this growth potential.”
The investments would also involve a co-generation power plant of 750 mega watt capacity. The government officials said Karnataka, which was in discussions with the company about the investment proposal, had shown the team six to seven sites for housing the project. “The company has finally chosen two sites. A final decision (on the site) will be made known to the government shortly,” an official at the chief minister's office told FE. He, however, declined to name the locations considered for the plant.
Karnataka's iron ore deposits are mainly spread across the north Karnataka districts of Bellary-Hospet and Koppal. The Karnataka government has extended all necessary support and incentives to the company to set up the plant, government officials said, adding that the company had sought approximately 4,000 acres for the plant.
ArcelorMittal's group board member Sudhir Maheshwari, chief executive (India and China) Vijay Kumar Bhatnagar, chief executive (India greenfield projects) Sanak Misra, corporate affairs manager Narasimha Hegde and strategy and planning head Prateek Kapur visited the minister to discuss the project details.
Earlier, the chief minister had told the media, “We have told the company to choose a site suitable for its requirements as the prestigious project is set to create about 10,000 jobs when implemented in the next four-five years.”
In a statement, ArcelorMittal chief executive LN Mittal said, “Our team had a constructive and positive meeting in response to an invitation from the Karnataka government. Karnataka is one of the most progressive states in India and, therefore, is an ideal place to build a world-class steel plant. The state government understands that India would continue to have a growing demand for steel and is keen on participating in this growth potential.”
Tata Consultancy Services to go slow on hiring
IT services behemoth Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which had offered jobs to as many as 24,885 graduates last year, is likely to go slow on its recruitment plans this year.
"The figure will not be as high as that of last year and also not very less," TCS vice-president and global HR head Ajoy Mukharjee told reporters here on the sidelines of Sangam, the company's annual academic conclave. In 2008, the largest IT services company had made job offers to as many as 24,885 graduates in campus recruitment, of which 12,000 candidates are yet to be absorbed. It plans to make job offers to 8,000 graduates this quarter, the process for which would begin in December. Replying to a question on the salary hikes and other incentives to the staff, TCS CEO and MD N Chandrasekharan said they are still working out the packages for the next year. This year the company did not give any hikes other than that of performance-linked variable incentives. About the attrition rate, Chandrasekharan said it was11.5 per cent last year with a head count of 1.41 lakh globally.
"The figure will not be as high as that of last year and also not very less," TCS vice-president and global HR head Ajoy Mukharjee told reporters here on the sidelines of Sangam, the company's annual academic conclave. In 2008, the largest IT services company had made job offers to as many as 24,885 graduates in campus recruitment, of which 12,000 candidates are yet to be absorbed. It plans to make job offers to 8,000 graduates this quarter, the process for which would begin in December. Replying to a question on the salary hikes and other incentives to the staff, TCS CEO and MD N Chandrasekharan said they are still working out the packages for the next year. This year the company did not give any hikes other than that of performance-linked variable incentives. About the attrition rate, Chandrasekharan said it was11.5 per cent last year with a head count of 1.41 lakh globally.
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