India does not figure in a list of 11 countries, mostly Europeans, identified by the US that would not be subject to American sanctions because of significant reduction in purchase of crude oil from Iran."I am pleased to announce that an initial group of eleven countries has significantly reduced their volume of crude oil purchases from Iran - Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today.As a result, Clinton said, she will report to the Congress that sanctions under the National Defense Authorization Act for 2012 will not apply to the financial institutions based in these countries, for a renewable period of 180 days.Observing that the actions taken by these countries were not easy, Clinton said they had to rethink their energy needs at a critical time for the world economy and quickly begin to find alternatives to Iranian oil, which many had been reliant on for their energy needs.Besides India, China and South Korea are other major countries which do not figure in this list.Later, a senior State Department official said the US is in conversation with these three countries in this regard."We look very much forward to hearing what kinds of messages those countries are able and willing to bring to us and to continue to pursue them in a serious and professional conversation," the official told reporters.Clinton said the ban on all new purchases of Iranian oil by the European Union countries as of January 23, and phase out of existing contracts by July 1, demonstrates their solidarity and their commitment to holding Iran accountable for its failure to comply with its international obligations.Clinton said Japan's significant reductions in crude oil purchases is also especially noteworthy considering the extraordinary energy and other challenges it has faced over the past year."We commend these countries for their actions and urge other nations that import oil from Iran to follow their example," she said.Only two months after the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2012, the US has made progress in shrinking Iran?s oil export markets, and isolating its Central Bank from the world financial system, she said."The United States is leading an unprecedented international coalition of partners that has brought to bear significant pressure on the Iranian regime to change its course. Diplomacy coupled with strong pressure can achieve the long-term solutions we seek and we will continue to work with our international partners to increase the pressure on Iran to meet its international obligations," Clinton said.(PTI)
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Shares in Infrastructure Development Finance Co dropped 4 per cent as the union budget unveiled on Friday was seen favouring government-backed companies at the expense of those with private ownership.IDFC will not benefit from the government's plans to double the issuance of tax free bonds to finance infrastructure projects to Rs 60000 crore, which helped boost some of its state-owned rivals such as Power Finance Corp on Monday.Also weighing on IDFC were valuation concerns, with shares up 58 per cent this year as of Friday, compared with a 15 per cent gain in the Nifty index.(Reuters)
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Australia is the front runner to cash in on India's growing demand for coking coal, says a research by Reserve Bank of Australia's economic panel.India is the world's fourth largest steel producer but relative to the size of its economy the country's steel consumption is low, said the research, which was done by Markus Hyvonen and Sean Langcake."As the (Indian) economy develops further, steel consumption is likely to increase. Indian steel makers have plans to expand capacity substantially in order to meet the anticipated increase in demand."While India has relatively large reserves of iron ore, its steel makers import most of the coking coal they require.As Australia is a major supplier of coking coal to India, these exports from Australia are likely to expand further," the report said.Indian steel production has grown strongly in recent decades and is likely to continue to expand as domestic producers increase their capacity to meet the anticipated demand.Given its relatively large reserves iron ore, India is likely to remain self-sufficient for supply of iron ore in the foreseeable future, it added."In contrast, Indian steel makers rely heavily on imports for their coking coal needs.India is the third-largest importer of coking coal and has become the second most important destination for Australian coking coal behind Japan.Although India's national steel policy has identified the need to further develop non-coking coal methods of production such as electric arc furnaces, its existing capacity means coking coal is likely to continue to play a role in the development of the local steel industry and "drive further demand for Australian coking coal in the future", it said.Meanwhile, an AAP report quoted Christine Milne, senator and deputy leader for the Australian Greens, who noted that India and China were openly talking about moving away from coal as a source of energy.Milne said China and India were openly discussing moving away from coal.She moved a motion calling on the government to require the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics to review its model "based on the current geopolitics of coal".(PTI)
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As part of plans to strengthen trade relations with India, Malaysia has offered its expertise and evinced interest in investing in the domestic hydro-electric power sector.Malaysian Second Minster for Resource Planning and Environment Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said in Chennai, on Monday, that his country was interested in utilising the opportunities available in the field."We are looking at investments and sharing our expertise on hydro (electric) power in India. We are also looking at Tamil Nadu since the market potential here is huge..", Hasan said.Hasan, who is leading a 70-member trade delegation representing the Government of Malaysia, was in Chennai as part of a five-day visit to India.Inviting Indian businessmen to invest in his country in various potential sectors, he said they have plans to sign MoUs with various trade bodies."The first MoU will be between Sarawak Timber Association and Chennai Timber and Plywood Merchants Association. The second will be Sarawak Timber Association and Timber Importers Association of India Ltd (in Mumbai)," he said.The MoU aims to promote and facilitate good collaboration and business networking between members of the both parties, he said.Earlier, the delegation called on Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah at Raj Bhavan.(PTI)
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As part of plans to strengthen trade relations with India, Malaysia has offered its expertise and evinced interest in investing in the domestic hydro-electric power sector.Malaysian Second Minster for Resource Planning and Environment Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said in Chennai, on Monday, that his country was interested in utilising the opportunities available in the field."We are looking at investments and sharing our expertise on hydro (electric) power in India. We are also looking at Tamil Nadu since the market potential here is huge..", Hasan said.Hasan, who is leading a 70-member trade delegation representing the Government of Malaysia, was in Chennai as part of a five-day visit to India.Inviting Indian businessmen to invest in his country in various potential sectors, he said they have plans to sign MoUs with various trade bodies."The first MoU will be between Sarawak Timber Association and Chennai Timber and Plywood Merchants Association. The second will be Sarawak Timber Association and Timber Importers Association of India Ltd (in Mumbai)," he said.The MoU aims to promote and facilitate good collaboration and business networking between members of the both parties, he said.Earlier, the delegation called on Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah at Raj Bhavan.(PTI)
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Activist UK fund The Children's Investment Fund Management (TCI) threatened legal action against Coal India's directors for not protecting minority shareholder interests, underlining investor dissatisfaction with state-run Indian companies.TCI, which held a 1.01 per cent stake in the world's largest coal miner at the end of 2011, said in a letter issued Monday that Coal India's directors were acting against interests of stakeholders by " blindly " accepting government instructions to roll back a recent increase in coal prices."The essence of our concerns is that we can no longer tolerate abuse of minority shareholders and poor corporate governance," TCI partner Oscar Veldhuijzen said in an email."By not acting in the interest of the company, the board of Coal India is effectively destroying huge amount of value which affects the people of India the most," he added.State companies in India are often valued at a discount to private-sector peers, in part because some sell their output at subsidised levels.A recent Rs 12,450 crore auction of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp attracted little international investor interest, partly because of a lack of clarity on how much of the government's fuel subsidy burden it would have to bear.TCI accused the government, Coal India's largest shareholder with a 90 per cent stake, of hurting the miner's commercial interests by forcing it to sign fuel supply agreements with power producers, guaranteeing to supply 80 per cent of contracted quantity.Domestic Indian coal is 45-70 per cent cheaper than imports."If no clear commitments are made public to provide parity of coal prices to import prices, we will strongly consider taking legal action against individual board members for breach of fiduciary duties," TCI said in the letter.Officials at Coal India were not available for comment.Coal India, which produces nearly 80 per cent of the coal in Asia's third-largest economy, in January bowed to pressure from the government and reversed a price increase after protests by power producers struggling from domestic coal supply shortages.It is in the process of implementing a new mechanism linking prices to gross calorific value (GCV) of the coal it produces, and will review the pricing mechanism in April.India holds about 10 per cent of the world's coal reserves, but the state miner has struggled to get swift environment clearances and land acquisition approvals for its mines, forcing expensive imports of more than 100 million tonnes annually.In 2010, the Indian government sold a 10 per cent stake in Coal India for $3.4 billion in the country's largest ever initial public offering.At 0805 GMT, shares in the company, now India's fourth largest by market value, were trading 1.4 per cent higher in a firm Mumbai market.(Reuters)
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Activist UK fund The Children's Investment Fund Management (TCI) threatened legal action against Coal India's directors for not protecting minority shareholder interests, underlining investor dissatisfaction with state-run Indian companies.TCI, which held a 1.01 per cent stake in the world's largest coal miner at the end of 2011, said in a letter issued Monday that Coal India's directors were acting against interests of stakeholders by " blindly " accepting government instructions to roll back a recent increase in coal prices."The essence of our concerns is that we can no longer tolerate abuse of minority shareholders and poor corporate governance," TCI partner Oscar Veldhuijzen said in an email."By not acting in the interest of the company, the board of Coal India is effectively destroying huge amount of value which affects the people of India the most," he added.State companies in India are often valued at a discount to private-sector peers, in part because some sell their output at subsidised levels.A recent Rs 12,450 crore auction of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp attracted little international investor interest, partly because of a lack of clarity on how much of the government's fuel subsidy burden it would have to bear.TCI accused the government, Coal India's largest shareholder with a 90 per cent stake, of hurting the miner's commercial interests by forcing it to sign fuel supply agreements with power producers, guaranteeing to supply 80 per cent of contracted quantity.Domestic Indian coal is 45-70 per cent cheaper than imports."If no clear commitments are made public to provide parity of coal prices to import prices, we will strongly consider taking legal action against individual board members for breach of fiduciary duties," TCI said in the letter.Officials at Coal India were not available for comment.Coal India, which produces nearly 80 per cent of the coal in Asia's third-largest economy, in January bowed to pressure from the government and reversed a price increase after protests by power producers struggling from domestic coal supply shortages.It is in the process of implementing a new mechanism linking prices to gross calorific value (GCV) of the coal it produces, and will review the pricing mechanism in April.India holds about 10 per cent of the world's coal reserves, but the state miner has struggled to get swift environment clearances and land acquisition approvals for its mines, forcing expensive imports of more than 100 million tonnes annually.In 2010, the Indian government sold a 10 per cent stake in Coal India for $3.4 billion in the country's largest ever initial public offering.At 0805 GMT, shares in the company, now India's fourth largest by market value, were trading 1.4 per cent higher in a firm Mumbai market.(Reuters)
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A meeting of ministers scheduled for Monday to discuss a sale of shares in state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp has been cancelled, a finance ministry source said.The meeting has been cancelled because Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is head of the ministerial panel discussing the sale, is travelling and is not able to attend, said the source, who did not wish to be named.No new date has been set for the meeting, the source said.The ministerial panel approved a plan earlier this month to sell some of the government's shareholding in ONGC through a share auction but did not set any timeframe.The government had planned to raise up to Rs 12,250 crore through a public offering of ONGC shares but that plan was scrapped in October after it was met with tepid response from investors.(Reuters)
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