India`s growth story compromised by oil prices: FM
New Delhi: Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said speculation driving oil prices had cut the country's growth rate by one per cent. Addressing the India Economic Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the World Economic Forum, Chidambaram claimed that India could have actually grown by 9-9.5 per cent, without the increase in oil prices. He questioned the fact that without a change in demand and supply how could oil price fall from $78 to $58 per barrel.

A summit discussion paper on the key risks for India attributed "a large part of the increase in world oil prices to the emergence of a middle class in India."

Chidambaram said the price spiral to $78 a barrel had proved a windfall for Russia which ahs vast reserves of oil.

The finance minister said he had sought a pricing band, one in which oil consuming nations guaranteed a minimum price.

Every increase of $10 per barrel in the price of oil shaved about half a percentage point off the global growth rate. The finance minister highlighted the need for the country to use its coal reserves and push for alternative energy sources, including nuclear energy.
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FDI limits for services sector may go up
New Delhi: The government may increase FDI in retail, banking and other segments of the services sector which services contribute to 54 pc of the economy and in expected to grow to 60 pc in the next five years with further liberalisation of regulatory framework Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) secretary Ajay Dua said.

Addressing the inaugural session of India Economic Summit organised CII and World Economic Forum, he said in sectors like retail, banking, accounting and healthcare much more needs to be done to ease regulatory framework guiding FDIs in India. Dua said there was a case to liberalise the policy framework for labour intensive sectors too.
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Centre to set up 5 coastal nuclear power stations
New Delhi: The Centre is finalizing plans to set up around five new coastal nuclear power stations using high-end reactors of 1,000 MWe and above. The stations would be designed to accommodate six to eight such reactors so that the overall capacity of each station can be gradually ramped up to almost 8,000 MWe, Government officials involved in the exercise said. A 12-member Site-Selection Committee under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which recommends locations for setting up nuclear plants to the Centre, has visited a number of coastal areas in the country and is likely to zero in on sites in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal.

The Centre will take a final call on these sites after the committee submits its report by December-end, officials said.

The state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) would take up a total of four-five coastal nuclear stations based on the committee's final recommendations. The projects are expected to use light water reactors and are most likely to be run using imported fuel, because of which the coastal sites are being selected, officials said.
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Parliament panel says no quota for creamy layer
New Delhi: Those belonging to the 'creamy layer' among the OBCs should be excluded from the ambit of the quota for admission in aided institutions of higher learning, a Parliamentary Committee has said. The Committee has suggested that if there was a shortfall of the required 27 pc of OBC students, the creamy layer among the OBC should be considered for the reservation.
While not suggesting quota on religious lines, the committee has said access should be given to all sections of society including muslims who are socially and economically backward.
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Indo-China JV to acquire oil assets overseas
New Delhi: India and China have agreed to form a joint venture company for acquisition of hydrocarbon assets in Africa and Latin America.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora in a meeting with Ma Kai, the all powerful chairman of National Development and Reform Commission, China's top planning agency decided on the need for the two countries to bid together for oil assets so as to avoid a price war.

Sources said Indian and Chinese flagship companies will pool resources together to form a special purpose vehicle or a joint venture company to scout for assets in third countries.

An agreement for the purpose is likely to be signed in Beijing next month when Deora will visit to attend a ministerial meeting of oil importing countries.
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