Election result could open up India’s markets
IN his home constituency of Chhindwara, India’s trade minister Kamal Nath is treated almost like a deity.
As his helicopter swooped down to the villages of rural Madhya Pradesh on the general-election campaign last week, farmers swarmed to kiss his feet, greeting him with chants of “Kamal Nath is our leader.”
Nath has been a hailed a hero by the local community for creating jobs and improving education but, away from the election fray, he has plans for India on a global scale.
Nath told The Sunday Times that his party, Congress, wants more British and other foreign investment if it wins the election, and is looking for a new boost to Anglo-Indian business links.
“In the current global economic crisis new opportunities will be thrown up and it is for us to identify these,” he said.
“British innovation and technology will have a huge market in India. It is India’s domestic-driven economic growth that will throw up these opportunities.”
The Indian economy is one of the fastest growing in the world and has the fourth-largest purchasing power, but foreign investment in certain sectors has been hampered by Byzantine legislation and protectionist policies.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
India 2008/09 oil import growth lowest in 3 yrs
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's crude oil imports and local sales of refined products expanded at the slowest pace in three years in 2008/09, as declining growth in Asia's third-largest economy pared demand, government data showed.
Asia's No. 3 oil consumer's crude imports in 2008/09 rose 5.3 percent to 2.56 million barrels per day (bpd), helped by the commissioning of Reliance Industries' 580,000 bpd refinery in Western state of Gujarat in December.
The new unit, situated next to Reliance's 660,000 bpd refinery, turned Jamnagar into the world's biggest oil complex.
Indian energy demand is expected to rise in April and May as the use of vehicles for a general election will lift diesel sales, while the low-priced Nano car being introduced this year is likely to raise gasoline demand.
In March crude oil imports grew 11.7 percent to 2.77 million bpd.
Oil sales rose 3.5 percent in 2008/09, while global crude oil prices shedding close to $100 dollar a barrel from the July peak on a global economic slowdown.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's crude oil imports and local sales of refined products expanded at the slowest pace in three years in 2008/09, as declining growth in Asia's third-largest economy pared demand, government data showed.
Asia's No. 3 oil consumer's crude imports in 2008/09 rose 5.3 percent to 2.56 million barrels per day (bpd), helped by the commissioning of Reliance Industries' 580,000 bpd refinery in Western state of Gujarat in December.
The new unit, situated next to Reliance's 660,000 bpd refinery, turned Jamnagar into the world's biggest oil complex.
Indian energy demand is expected to rise in April and May as the use of vehicles for a general election will lift diesel sales, while the low-priced Nano car being introduced this year is likely to raise gasoline demand.
In March crude oil imports grew 11.7 percent to 2.77 million bpd.
Oil sales rose 3.5 percent in 2008/09, while global crude oil prices shedding close to $100 dollar a barrel from the July peak on a global economic slowdown.
Indian Economy Overview
India’s economy has been one of the stars of global economics in recent years, growing 9.2% in 2007 and 9.6% in 2006. Growth had been supported by markets reforms, huge inflows of FDI, rising foreign exchange reserves, both an IT and real estate boom, and a flourishing capital market. Like most of the world, however, India is facing testing economic times in 2008. The Reserve Bank of India had set an inflation target of 4%, but by the middle of the year it was running at 11%, the highest level seen for a decade. The rising costs of oil, food and the resources needed for India’s construction boom are all playing a part. India has to compete ever harder in the energy market place in particular and has not been as adept at securing new fossil fuel sources as the Chinese. The Indian Government is looking at alternatives, and has signed a wide-ranging nuclear treaty with the US, in part to gain access to nuclear power plant technology that can reduce its oil thirst. This has proved contentious though, leading to leftist members of the ruling coalition pulling out of the government. As part of the fight against inflation a tighter monetary policy is expected, but this will help slow the growth of the Indian economy still further, as domestic demand will be dampened. External demand is also slowing, further adding to the downside risks.
India’s economy has been one of the stars of global economics in recent years, growing 9.2% in 2007 and 9.6% in 2006. Growth had been supported by markets reforms, huge inflows of FDI, rising foreign exchange reserves, both an IT and real estate boom, and a flourishing capital market. Like most of the world, however, India is facing testing economic times in 2008. The Reserve Bank of India had set an inflation target of 4%, but by the middle of the year it was running at 11%, the highest level seen for a decade. The rising costs of oil, food and the resources needed for India’s construction boom are all playing a part. India has to compete ever harder in the energy market place in particular and has not been as adept at securing new fossil fuel sources as the Chinese. The Indian Government is looking at alternatives, and has signed a wide-ranging nuclear treaty with the US, in part to gain access to nuclear power plant technology that can reduce its oil thirst. This has proved contentious though, leading to leftist members of the ruling coalition pulling out of the government. As part of the fight against inflation a tighter monetary policy is expected, but this will help slow the growth of the Indian economy still further, as domestic demand will be dampened. External demand is also slowing, further adding to the downside risks.
Economy in India doing quite well, trade group hears
If you just look at India’s economy, you might not know there was a global economic crisis.
That was the essential message from Anil Mukim, joint secretary of the Indian Ministry of Commerce, who spoke to an audience of Seattle-area business and other leaders April 22.
Mukim pointed to India’s 7 percent GDP growth rate, and the relative stability of its banking sector, as evidence that the Indian economy has had enough domestic growth to buffer it from the collapse of most world markets.
Mukim said India is notable among large Asian economies in that it actually has a trade deficit with the United States, with $21 billion in imports from the U.S. in 2007-2008, versus $20.7 billion in exports.
Much of this is from sales of Boeing aircraft to India, he said.
In response to a question, Mukim acknowledged that despite the size of the Indian market for aircraft, India has been only a minor supplier of aircraft parts and assemblies to Boeing, compared with Japan and China.
Many countries require some manufacture of parts within their borders as a payback for big orders, a process called “offsets.”
If you just look at India’s economy, you might not know there was a global economic crisis.
That was the essential message from Anil Mukim, joint secretary of the Indian Ministry of Commerce, who spoke to an audience of Seattle-area business and other leaders April 22.
Mukim pointed to India’s 7 percent GDP growth rate, and the relative stability of its banking sector, as evidence that the Indian economy has had enough domestic growth to buffer it from the collapse of most world markets.
Mukim said India is notable among large Asian economies in that it actually has a trade deficit with the United States, with $21 billion in imports from the U.S. in 2007-2008, versus $20.7 billion in exports.
Much of this is from sales of Boeing aircraft to India, he said.
In response to a question, Mukim acknowledged that despite the size of the Indian market for aircraft, India has been only a minor supplier of aircraft parts and assemblies to Boeing, compared with Japan and China.
Many countries require some manufacture of parts within their borders as a payback for big orders, a process called “offsets.”
ICICI Posts Steepest Profit Fall in More Than 6 Years
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- ICICI Bank Ltd., India’s second- largest by assets, reported the steepest fall in quarterly profit in more than six years as it set aside more funds for bad debt and curbed loans to avoid defaults.
Net income fell 35 percent to 7.44 billion rupees ($149 million) in the three months ended March 31, from 11.5 billion rupees a year earlier, according to an e-mailed statement today. The profit compares with the 7.3 billion rupee median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Chief Executive Officer K.V. Kamath, heading to the end of a 14-year tenure, is battling a slump in loans and deposits as the economy falters and investments overseas, including holdings in bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., soured. ICICI’s advances declined 3 percent in the year to March, even as total bank credit in India climbed 17.5 percent.
“They have a strategy in place to turnaround, but it will take at least a year for them to return to average growth,” Vaibhav Agrawal, the banking analyst at Angel Broking Ltd. in Mumbai, said by telephone today. He recommends clients buy ICICI stock.
The decline in profit is only the second time ICICI’s quarterly earnings have fallen in more than six years.
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- ICICI Bank Ltd., India’s second- largest by assets, reported the steepest fall in quarterly profit in more than six years as it set aside more funds for bad debt and curbed loans to avoid defaults.
Net income fell 35 percent to 7.44 billion rupees ($149 million) in the three months ended March 31, from 11.5 billion rupees a year earlier, according to an e-mailed statement today. The profit compares with the 7.3 billion rupee median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Chief Executive Officer K.V. Kamath, heading to the end of a 14-year tenure, is battling a slump in loans and deposits as the economy falters and investments overseas, including holdings in bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., soured. ICICI’s advances declined 3 percent in the year to March, even as total bank credit in India climbed 17.5 percent.
“They have a strategy in place to turnaround, but it will take at least a year for them to return to average growth,” Vaibhav Agrawal, the banking analyst at Angel Broking Ltd. in Mumbai, said by telephone today. He recommends clients buy ICICI stock.
The decline in profit is only the second time ICICI’s quarterly earnings have fallen in more than six years.
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