US-India atomic deal - Land scarcity causes worry

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.

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.

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.

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.