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Asian Voice | 17th February 2018
Modi invites Omani businesses to invest in India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Oman-India Business Meet in Muscat
On his three-nation tour, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Omani business to invest in India, as he addressed around 50 Omani chief executives at the Oman-India Business Meet in Muscat. Speaking at the event, Modi said the reforms were aimed at preparing India for the 21st century and make it a global manufacturing hub. He said India was ushering in a knowl-
edge-based technologically driven society which presents many opportunities for Omani businesses. The PM listed some of the major reforms by the government in the last over three years, saying that India had climbed to the third position in the global Start-up Index. Earlier, during his meeting with Sultan of Oman, Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, Modi appreciated Indian expa-
triates for their contributions to the country's development. Oman houses over 8,00,000 expatriate Indians. Modi praised their roles in the Gulf country's development. Following the meeting between Modi and Sultan Qaboos, eight agreements were signed between India and Oman. These include three memorandums of understanding on cooperation in the fields of
health, outer space, diplomacy and defence studies and analyses. The India-Oman defence cooperation has emerged as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between the two countries. Oman is a strategic partner of India in the Gulf and an important interlocutor at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Arab League and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
Australia won't fund Adani’s rail link Indian miner Adani's plans for a massive coal project in Australia has suffered a setback as the government has confirmed that it would not fund a rail link to the facility. The development of the controversial US$16 billion Carmichael mine near the Great Barrier Reef is set to be one of the world's largest. But it has been delayed by several years amid regulatory and legal hurdles. While a lease was granted in 2016, Adani is still seeking to secure funding for the first stage of a Aus$1 billion (US$790 million) government loan for the 189-km rail line linking the mine to a port.
Gautam Adani
But government frontbencher Karen Andrews said such a loan would not be forthcoming from Canberra amid opposition from the state government. "For there to be money available through NAIF (Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund), that will require the support of the Queensland (state) Labor
government," Liberal MP Andrews said. "They are not going to provide that, so the advice that I've been given from the resources minister is that the financing will not proceed." The Queensland Labour government campaigned against the rail loan last year in state elections. Andrews said she was hopeful the project would still go ahead, adding that the mine "is actually very, very important for employment and jobs in the northern part of Australia". Several global banks have already said they would avoid the project amid a growing shift away from investing in fossil fuels. There was no
immediate comment from Adani Australia. Adani last year cancelled a conditional Aus$2 billion contract with mining services giant Downer to develop and run the mine, saying it would manage the mine on its own to keep costs down. The mega mine is opposed by environmentalists, who claim it will harm the World Heritage-list Barrier Reef - already threatened by climate change - off Australia's northeastern coast. The Indian conglomerate forecasts it will produce 60 million tonnes of thermal coal a year for export and estimates it will generate 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Mallya loses court battle in UK, to pay Singapore company $90mn Embattled Indian liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya has lost another legal battle linked to his nowdefunct Kingfisher Airlines after the UK High Court awarded Singapore-based BOC Aviation an estimated USD 90 million in claims. The latest case involving the 62-yearold businessman, whose extradition case over alleged loan defaults amounting to around £900 million returns to W e s t m i n s t e r Magistrates' Court in London on March 16, is related to the leasing of
Vijay Mallya
aircraft by Kingfisher Airlines dating back to 2014. Justice Picken, in a judgment dated February 5 at the Business and Property Courts of the High Court
in London, ruled that "the defendants have no real prospect of successfully defending the claim". The defendants in the claim brought by BOC Aviation in Singapore and BOC Aviation (Ireland) Ltd have been named as Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd. “We are pleased with the judgment but would not like to comment further at this stage,” said a spokesperson for BOC Aviation in Singapore. The legal claim relates to a leasing agreement
between Kingfisher Airlines and aircraft leasing company BOC Aviation involving four planes, of which three were delivered. The delivery of the fourth was reportedly withheld due to unpaid amounts due in advance under the lease arrangement. BOC Aviation claims that the security deposit, which is a course of redress in such matters, was also inadequate to cover the payments that Kingfisher was "contractually bound" to make, resulting in the high court claim in London.
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Air India's operating profit more than doubles in FY17
Air India has been “consistently improving” its overall performance and its operating profit doubled to £29.80 million in the last financial year. However, the net loss of the state-owned airline widened to £576.51 million in 2016-17. India's Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha said, “Air India has been consistently improving its overall financial and operational performance since the implementation of the turnaround plan by the government.” Air India in an operating profit of £10.5 million, in 2015-16, while net loss stood at £383.67 million. The previous UPA government had approved a turnaround plan under which Air India is to receive a total equity infusion worth £3.02 billion up to 2021 subject to meeting certain performance thresholds. Pound 2.65 billion has already been invested in the airline. Sinha said the draft expression of interest document
inviting proposal for the airline's disinvestment is yet to be finalised by the Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM). He said, “Formal proposals from prospective bidders would be received thereafter only. Any unsolicited expressions of interest at this stage are not relevant.” AI had an operating profit of £10.5 million while net loss stood at £393.67 million. The previous UPA government had approved a turnaround plan in 2012. The airline's total loans totalled up to £ 4.84 billion in 2016-17, including aircraft and working capital loans of £1.74 billion and £ 3.11 billion. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had given its inprinciple approval for considering strategic disinvestment of Air India and its five subsidiaries, in June 2016. It also constituted the AISAM, which is headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Tata Steel Q3 net profit jumps 5-fold Tata Steel has reported five-fold rise in consolidated net profit to £113.6 million for the third quarter ended December 31. The company had posted consolidated net profit of £23.2 million in the same quarter of previous fiscal. CEO and Managing Director of the company, TV Narendran said that they had delivered strong operational performance across geographies and the firm expects this momentum to continue as markets are expected to remain favourable. Narendran said the company's focus on India continues as Tata Steel looks to expand its Kalinganagar site as well as pursue inorganic growth opportunities. He said the company is progressing well on the JV with ThyssenKrupp and “We are committed to building a long-term
investment in strong European portfolio.” Narendran added, “Globally, steel prices have been buoyant with improved trade position in China along with cost push from raw materials. In India, we have witnessed strong volume growth across the verticals as well as an increase in realisations.” Executive Director and CFO Koushil Chatterjee said the group revenues saw a strong growth by improved volumes in India and stronger realisations across geographies, on the back of improvement in commodity prices.