The “Strategy paper on Coal Import Substitution” has been prepared as a report of the IMC (Inter-Ministerial Committee). The paper focusses on the present energy mix of the country, domestic coal production,
India, a major importer of pulses, is faced with a delay in shipments of urad and tur owing to the cyclone in Myanmar, a major exporting nation. With an annual supply of 1.5 million tonnes of pulses to India, Myanmar accounts for almost 50 per cent of the country's annual pulses imports. "The cyclone would lead to a one-month delay in shipments of urad and tur. Shipments to the tune of 50,000 tonnes is estimated to have been stuck," said K C Bhartiya, president of the Pulses Importers Association.
Rising export of petroleum products helped Commerce Minister Kamal Nath meet 96 per cent of the targeted $160 billion worth of exports in 2007-08, but it could not contain the country's net oil import bill. The net oil import bill in 2007-08 is likely to rise by around 41 per cent over 2006-07 as the country's refineries consumed 9 per cent more crude oil to meet surging demand even as crude oil prices rose nearly 53 per cent during the year.
Allowing four states to import wheat directly from abroad is a move to dismantle the food distribution system. First the Central government allowed global food giants and private companies to buy wheat directly from farmers, thereby deliberately initiating a shortfall in procurement for the Public Distribution System (PDS). It has now directed four states
Let's be logical and not emotional about food. From ill-informed outsiders' point of view, it seems reasonable to blame rising prices on fast-growing demand in India and China. After all, these two facts are known: prices are rising globally, and the two Asian giants are the world's fastest growing economies. Plus, every school kid knows that prices go up if demand outpaces supply. Food, everyone knows, grows slowly. Presto!
Public sector petroleum companies' losses on fuel sales cross Rs 500 crore a day; govt under renewed pressure to allow them to raise petro-product prices New Delhi, April 23: The price basket of crude oil that India imports has crossed an all-time high of $110 a barrel, widening the losses incurred by state-run firms on fuel sales to over Rs 500 crore per day and increasing pressure on the government to allow oil companies to hike the prices of petroleum products like petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene.
As Union commerce minister Kamal Nath studies India's negotiation dockets in preparation for a mid-May World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meet in Geneva, a sort of last-ditch attempt to strike a Doha Round deal before a change of US leadership, some voices have emerged in favour of softening the country's stance on farm sector issues.
Even as the World Trade Organisation director general Pascal Lamy is expecting a break-through in the Doha Round negotiations in the next few weeks, several countries, including India, are expected to factor in rising food prices and use of bio-fuels in their discussions. However, this will not necessarily lead to a change in the strategies of individual countries on tariffs and subsidies, an official in the know of developments at WTO said.
THE world's top food trading companies are doing brisk business here as the country gears up to deal with shortages. The four biggest international grain traders
Amid mounting worries that rising prices might singe Congress and its UPA partners in the coming elections, government on Wednesday vowed to crack down on cement and steel cartels and announced imports of one million tonnes of edible oil and 15 lakh tonnes of pulses. The announcements were made during the day-long discussion in Parliament on price spiral, with the Opposition and Left savaging government.
The Doha round of global trade negotiations has been stalled since 2001 because developing nations have refused to lower import tariffs that protect their farmers and rich countries won't give up farm-price supports. Now, import duties are being slashed from Brazil to Burkina Faso in response to prices that the World Bank says have risen 83 per cent the past three years; subsidies in the US and Europe are falling.
