NEW DELHI WEEKLY ECON OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 NEW DELHI 003528 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/OSA/LDROKER/ASTERN/KRUDD DEPT OF ENERGY FOR A/S KHARBERT, TCUTLER, CZAMUDA, RLUHAR DEPT PASS TO USTR DHARTWICK/CLILIENFELD/AADLER DEPT PASS TO TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF SOUTH ASIA ABAUKOL TREASURY PASS TO FRB SAN FRANCISCO/TERESA CURRAN STATE FOR SCA/INS MICHAEL NEWBILL AND EB/TRA JEFFREY HORWITZ AND TOM ENGLE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR EFIN EINV ETRD ENRG SENV IN SUBJECT: NEW DELHI WEEKLY ECON OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS Reftel: Mumbai 00478 ¶1. (U) Below is a compilation of Economic highlights from Embassy New Delhi for the week of July 30 - August 3, 2007. Contains Business Proprietary information. TATA RUNS INTO TROUBLE IN TAMIL NADU -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Tata Steel's $620 million project proposed Tamil Nadu titanium dioxide factory ran into rough weather with the state's opposition parties threatening protest demonstrations against the proposed 10,600 acre land acquisition. With some of the ruling DMK party's allies also joining the opposition, a worried Chief Minister Karunanidhi announced that the project would proceed only after public hearings. Local media seized on the Chief Minister's comments to pronounce the project dead and the opposition parties to celebrate victory. Nonetheless, state government and media contacts cautioned against prematurely declaring the project dead. Rather, they believe the Chief Minister's proposal for public hearings will buy time so that, after a delay, the project will likely move forward. They noted the state government will proceed cautiously on the land acquisition to prevent protests, such as those that have plagued the proposed Tata project in Singur, West Bengal that ultimately spilled over into the violence in Nandigram, West Bengal. NEW CENTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH IN PUNE -------------- ¶3. (U) In a joint collaboration between top meteorologists and climate scientists worldwide, the Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune is setting up the first India-focused research center on climate change, likely to be named the Center for Climate Change Research. The Center is expected to be operational by 2008, according to an article in The Mint. The Ministry of Earth Sciences is leading the Pune based project in response to insufficient scientific data on the effects of global warming in India. Charged with forecasting changes in rainfalls and temperature in India, the GOI also hopes the Center will contribute to policy planning and decisions on climate change. Also, the GOI recently established two high level committees to address global climate change issues in India, but it was unclear whether the new Center was included in these discussions. The Center is also likely to serve as a nodal institute for other science centers such as the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, and the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Glaciology. AIR INDIA BEGINS NON-STOP SERVICE TO THE U.S. -------------- ¶4. (U) The newly merged state carrier Air India (combining Air India and Indian Airlines) celebrated the launch of their new fleet of Boeing planes in both Delhi and Mumbai. Air India is the first Indian carrier to fly non-stop to the U.S. with its new long-haul Boeing 777-200. As of August 1, Air India launched non-stop service from Mumbai to New York. In 2008, the carrier will commence with its non-stop Delhi-New York route. The festivities in Delhi and Mumbai welcomed the first delivery of the largest civil aviation purchase in India's history by Air India and Air India Express - 68 Boeing airplanes (including 23 777s, 27 787 Dreamliners, and 18 737s) valued at more than $11 billion. ¶5. (U) In Delhi, Air India's Chairman V. Thulasidas showcased the new airplanes for Prime Minister Singh, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, and other dignitaries, including Charge Steven White. Thulasidas also announced plans to order another 60 aircraft to replace the carrier's aging fleet and thereby meet the estimated 25 percent annual growth in India's aviation sector over the next five NEW DELHI 00003528 002 OF 005 years. ¶6. (U) In Mumbai, CDA White and Mumbai Consul General Owen congratulated Air India and the Ministry of Civil Aviation for their forward leaning vision and the tremendous gains from the U.S.-India Open Skies Agreement. Leaders from the government, business, cultural, media, and political communities gathered to send off Air India's new Boeing 777-200LR on its first non-stop flight to New York. Air India officials also announced that non-stop flights from Delhi to Washington, DC and Bangalore to San Francisco will commence sometime in 2008. AMBITIOUS PLANS TO UPGRADE INDIA's AIRPORTS -------------- ¶7. (U) During a brief courtesy call with mission staff on August 2, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel discussed plans for the country's airports. The Minister stated that the government is coming out with an order to permit operation of two airports in major cities in India. "In the case of Bangalore, there might be some contractual obligations but that is something we can negotiate." He added that while the new Bangalore airport should be ready by mid-2008, the ministry's order will be released before then. As for modernization plans for the Chennai airport, the Minister expects expansion of the existing facility to be completed by the end of this year. He also announced there will be calls for tenders for the new green field project for Chennai within the next couple of months and the bidders are likely to be short listed in a few years. The Minister pointed out that some of the world's operators have expressed interest. In the secondary cities, the Minister expects to have 500 operational airports by the end of ¶2010. As part of this development, the Ministry has commenced international flights from tier II cities as a first steps towards upgrading airport infrastructure. The Minister said, ""I see the development of these facilities to be driven by us (the government). The PPP model (public-private partnership as used for the Delhi and Mumbai airports) will not work at these locations as the business is not very profitable" DELL STARTS MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS IN INDIA -------------- ¶8. (U) In July 2007, Dell rolled out the first desktop from its new manufacturing plant in India, built primarily to serve the local market. Dell announced its intentions to develop the facility in September 2006 and, with substantial cooperation from the government of Tamil Nadu, was able to begin operations in under a year. The Sriperambudur factory, just outside Chennai, is expected to reduce delivery time and cut costs that will be passed on to the consumer. According to a recent article in The Mint, the 50-acre production plant will have the capacity to produce 400,000 desktop PCs to meet the rising demand. In 2006 alone, Dell registered a growth of 76% in volume sales to 300,000 units, which were previously imported from China. The Chennai plant will be Dell's third in Asia, after China and Malaysia, and is expected to employ 1000 people. RELIANCE WINS REASSIGNED SASAN ULTRA-MEGA POWER PROJECT BID -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Reliance Power Ltd (RPL) -- a subsidiary of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG)'s Reliance Energy Generation Ltd. -- won the second round of bidding on July 30 to build the $5 billion 4,000-MegaWatt Sasan coal-fired, thermal power plant complex in Madhya Pradesh to be based on pithead coal and super-critical reactor technology. Sasan is of one of the two already-awarded UltraMega Power Projects of seven projected GOI projects. As reported in last weeks Economic Highlights, the previous winner -- a consortium of the sole foreign bidder Globeleq-Singapore and Hyderabad-based Lanco Infratech -- was disqualified by the Empowered NEW DELHI 00003528 003 OF 005 Group of Ministers on July 24 due to changes in its ownership structure. In the tariff-based rebidding, Reliance Power lowered its previous bid to 1.29 rupies (about 3.25 U.S. cents) per kilowatt-hour (kwh),while Jaiprakash Associates and the GOI-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) did not change their previous offers of Rs 1.65/kwh and Rs 2.13/kwh respectively. A well-placed source told Econoffs that, consortium ownership structure aside, the owners of Lanco lacked sufficient political influence to retain their original award against Reliance Power's aggressive behind-the-scene maneuvers. U.S. ENERGY COMPANY AES RECOMMENDED FOR COAL MINE -------------- ¶10. (SBU) India's Ministry of Power and Central Electricity Authority on July 30 recommended to the coal mine Screening Committee in favor of allocation to 25 companies of 25 sites at 16 coal deposits. The sole foreign participant, U.S. power-generation company AES, was recommended to receive leasing and development rights for the 150-million-metric-ton Sayang coal deposit in Chhattisgarh, 250 kilometers northeast of state capital Raipur, for use in AES' proposed US$1 billion, mine-side 1,000-MegaWatt thermal power station. Pending approval by the Screening Committee and the Prime Minister, the Coal Ministry is expected to award the mine leases by October 2007. AES expects open-pit mine development and plant construction to begin by December 2008, with completion by early 2012. Ambassador Mulford and Embassy's Foreign Commercial Service and State/Economic Section have heavily lobbied on AES' behalf for over a year with the GOI, Minister of Power, and Ministry of Coal for this allocation. RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LIMITED SEEKING PARTNERSHIP WITH DOW CHEMICAL -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) -- which is active in petroleum and natural gas, including construction of the 540,000 barrel-per-day Jamnagar Petroleum Refinery in Gujurat -- is interested in pursuing partnerships with U.S. oil and gas companies, including investment in the United States, a RIL representative told Econoff. In particular, Mukesh Ambani is seeking joint activities with U.S. chemical giant Dow Chemical. RIL expects to export all of its refined petroleum products from the Jamnagar refinery, once it is operational, because Indian domestic retail prices remain controlled for political reasons, with the GOI providing subsidies to loss-making, GOI-owned, product- retailing companies. RIL is interested in having Dow Chemicals purchase its refined products as feedstock for the latter's chemical processing and plastics. SCHEDULING INAUGURAL MEETING OF PRIVATE SECTOR ADVISORY GROUP -------------- ¶12. (SBU) During an August 2 meeting with USTR Deputy Assistant Claudio Lilienfeld, Ministry of Commerce and Industry Joint Secretary Anil Mukim recommended a meeting of the Private Sector SIPDIS Advisory Group (PSAG) in late September, on the margins of the CEO Forum in New York. Lilienfeld offered to convey the proposal to Washington. They also touched on Indian Commerce Secretary Pillai's proposed visit to the U.S. in September to resume ongoing bilateral trade discussions. ¶13. (SBU) Mukim also raised the WTO's recent hearing of a case filed by India against new bond rules imposed by the United States on Indian shrimp exports. The panel is expected to give its final verdict in September 2007. Mukim commented that the proposed compromise by the U.S. government to Indian shrimp farmers, outside of the WTO process, is inadequate. ¶14. (SBU) On the issue of social security totalization, Mukim NEW DELHI 00003528 004 OF 005 highlighted the importance of resolving this issue for the thousands of temporary Indian workers in the U.S. Lilienfeld explained that the USG is looking at how to respond to this request, to revive prospects of experts' dialogue, and that the issue would likely be raised at the CEO Forum. MOMENTUM FOR LEGAL SERVICES WORKING GROUP -------------- ¶15. (SBU) On August 2, Ministry of Commerce and Industry Joint Secretary Jayant Dasgupta discussed the services focus group of the SIPDIS TPF with USTR Lilienfeld. Dasgupta highlighted a planned meeting on August 4 with the Indian Bar Council and corporate law representatives to discuss a way forward on the legal services working group. While Dasgupta noted that the Indian Bar Council has been resistant to opening up legal services to U.S. players, he was hopeful that with a new head at the Indian Bar Council, it may be possible to finally get the working group off the ground. AJAY SHANKAR REPLACES AJAY DUA AS DIPP SECRETARY -------------- ¶16. (U) On August 1st Ajay Shankar, 58, replaced Ajay Dua at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry as the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary. He is known for his pro-liberalization views. As DIPP Secretary, Shankar will Chair the Innovation and Creativity Group of the Trade Policy Forum. His department is the nodal point for all IPR related policy and implementation issues (including bilateral cooperation efforts to improve IPR climate in India),as well as secretariat of foreign direct investment approvals. Before becoming DIPP Secretary Shankar was Principal Advisor (water resources/environment/state plans) in the Planning Commission. Prior to this he was Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Power. As Joint Secretary in-charge of Power Sector Reform, Shankar played a crucial role in the finalization of India's electricity legislation, the Electricity Act, 2003. He holds post-graduate degrees in economics from Georgetown University and in political science from the Allahabad University. Ministry of Finance Pursuing Opportunistic Reforms -------------- ¶17. (SBU) In a meeting with econoff and U.S.T.R. Deputy Assistant Claudio Lilienfeld on August 3 (more septel),Ministry of Finance Joint Secretary K.P. Krishnan struck a new theme on economic reforms, introduced by the Finance Minister in a speech earlier in the week. Both Minister Chidambaram and Krishnan noted that political constraints on the ruling coalition have stalled several key economic reforms in Parliament (note: for example, liberalizing the banking and pension sectors. End note). Given that, the Ministry is now explicitly focusing on what it terms "opportunistic" reforms - tactically identifying windows of opportunity to push through incremental or partial reforms that otherwise are resisted. ¶18. (SBU) Krishan offered an example, pointing out that currently, India does not have a currency futures market. Recent high capital inflows may provide an opportunity to reach relatively rapid consensus on allowing currency futures trading, since the trading could mitigate excess liquidity and pressure on the rupee to appreciate (see reftel for more on this monetary challenge). Krishnan used another colorful metaphor to illustrate the Ministry of Finance's perspective on what reforms are possible. He termed the Ministry's use of executive ordinances to inaugurate a new government pension system the equivalent of "bypass surgery" since the Ministry worked around stalled legislation. The colorfully delivered message from Krishnan and Chidambaram is that the Ministry of Finance continues its commitment to reform and is seeking to be more creative in its efforts. NEW DELHI 00003528 005 OF 005 ¶19. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov/p/sa/newdelhi WHITE