Congress should not rush through nuclear deal: Berman

New York, Sept 7 :: The US Congress should not rush through the Indo-US nuclear deal until the Bush Administration proved that it did not cut any "side deals" at the NSG meeting to get the India-specific waiver, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman has warned.
Berman, a well-known opponent of the Indo-US nuclear deal, said he would not consider any "expedited" timetable for considering the Indo-US agreement until the Bush administration provides him with more information about the negotiations held at the Nuclear Suppliers Group in Vienna.

The Democrat had raised a political storm in India by releasing the 26-page responses by the State Department to 45 questions on the Indo-US nuclear deal posed by his predecessor Tom Lantos way back in October last year.

The US position in the letter appeared at variance with New Delhi's interpretation of some key clauses of the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Berman told the New York Times that he wants to check that the Bush administration did not cut any side deals with 45-member grouping to get their backing.

He said he wanted to ensure, for instance, that the United States did not say any countries could sell nuclear technology to India that the US is currently prohibited from selling.

"Ultimately, the burden was on the White House to convince Congress that the nuclear pact needed to be authorised in a 'rushed' fashion," he said.

Barman's comments came as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said time was short and she has talked to the heads of the Committees of both the houses of Congress for pushing through the deal

Nuclear deal to power India Inc’s growth engine

The mood is again upbeat among engineering companies. From having to fret about losing top talent to overseas companies, this core sector feels it is all set to see a sharp increase in business contracts, thanks to the Nuclear Suppliers Group’s decision that has overturned a three-decade-long ban on India buying materials related to nuclear energy.

However, actual contracts could take more than three to four years as varied issues, such as financial assistance and legal, regulatory and safety issues, are spelt out clearly and local capability is developed. It is expected that the nuclear agreement with the US may allow India to generate 40,000 megawatts of nuclear power by 2020. The waiver and the prospects of a possible Indo-US nuclear deal has led global nuclear power majors, such as General Electric, Westinghouse, Areva and Rosatom, are expected to relaunch talks for manufacturing and supply of nuclear power equipment while also initiating parallel negotiations with the state-owned Nuclear Power Corp of India for supply of nuclear fuel and technology for existing power plants and upcoming projects, said sources close to the development. Top engineering companies such as Larsen & Toubro and are also keen.

Global uranium suppliers led by Australian, Kazakh and Canadian firms, are also eyeing fuel supply contracts with NPCIL, said the sources who can’t be named. L&T, India’s largest engineering company, expects a sharp increase in interest in nuclear energy. “Foreign companies have been in talks with us frequently to assess our expertise ever since the India-US nuclear talks started,” said a senior official with L&T. “We expect the negotiations to resume now as India has become a member of the Nuclear Club,” he added.

Recently, L&T chairman AM Naik told ET that that his company is ready for its foray into building nuclear reactors. “We will invest about Rs 1,800 crore for a forging unit through a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corp,” Mr Naik had said.

The agreement with the US is likely to generate orders of more than $10 billion for companies such as L&T and Bhel. This is expected to boost revenues for these companies and also stem flight of executives from large companies such as L&T which have seen alarming attrition levels of 15%.

“(However) the whole process will take some time,” said Kameswara Rao, India leader (power practice) at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “Apart from developing local capability, we also need to look for clarity on the financial issues as not many multilateral agencies lend to nuclear projects,” he added. The options then include tapping bilateral loan guarantees and also facilitating uranium mining, apart from developing private public partnership models. India’s nuclear reactors are operating at just 55-60% capacity due to low-uranium supplies which face restrictions after India blasted its first atom bomb at Pokhran in 1974.

State-owned Nuclear Power Corp of India (NPCIL), the monopoly nuclear power generator, has identified four reactor manufacturers — Westinghouse Electric Company (AP1000 series of reactors), GE-Hitachi (ABWR reactor series), Areva (1,000 mw European pressurised reactors) and Russia’s atomic energy agency Rosatom (VVER 1,000 reactors) — as among the frontrunners for new projects planned across the country. This is based on “suitability” of technical parameters for placement of orders that will form the first phase of the Centre’s plan to build 40,000 mw of nuclear capacity by 2020.

The nuclear space is currently dominated by leading companies from Russia and France, which have sophisticated nuclear technologies. Areva, a France-based company with a listed unit in India, has already said it plans to join hands with Indian firms for production of nuclear power equipment. “We are negotiating with Indian companies for a possible joint production in India,” Areva president Anne Lauvergeon said recently.

Private energy companies were cautious talking about the deal. Reliance Energy officials were tight-lipped. A spokesperson for the Mumbai-based electricity company that is part of the Anil Ambani group, said that the deal would be good for the country and that the company is willing to wait and see how it unfolds. Tata Power is another private company that has been waiting for India’s nuclear isolation to end so that it could foray into nuclear power. About a year ago, the company had initiated talks with Areva on sourcing of nuclear power equipment.

Tata Power recently said it was planning a minimum $3 billion investment in nuclear energy, either on its own or through joint ventures.

The local capability also needs to be developed. Tata group’s TRF executive director RC Nandrajog says that immediate benefits may not be there, “but once there are efforts to build plants, we will see lot of business on fabrication and engine making.”

While French nuclear major Areva NP and Russian state-owned firm Rosatom are among the companies keenly eyeing the Indian nuclear pie, US players such as General Electric and Toshiba Corp-owned Westinghouse Electric are other key players waiting for a ratification by the US Congress.

Russian firms are currently helping India build two 1,000-MWe (megawatt electric) light water reactors at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu and plans for an additional six units could be speeded up.

US-based nuclear firms, meanwhile, will wait for the approval from the US Congress to resume trade with India. If this happens GE would act upon its joint venture with Hitachi for the Indian market and has recently been reported to be open to local partnerships.

Banking, capital goods stocks rally

Key benchmark indices saw strong start after the 45-nation Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) on Saturday, 6 September 2008 reached a consensus on the crucial Indo-US nuke deal agreeing on a clean waiver for India. A solid surge in Asian stocks also aided the strong upmove on the domestic bourses.
Capital goods, telecom shares rallied on fresh buying. The market breadth was strong. All the 30-members from the Sensex pack gained. Ranbaxy Laboratories rebounded in green.
Shares of potential beneficiaries of the India-US nuclear deal surged, with NTPC, Bharat Heavy Electricals and Larsen & Toubro surging over 5% each.
Asian markets surged today, 8 September 2008, after the US government on Sunday, 7 September 2008, took over mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to limit extensive damage of the financial crisis. Key benchmark indices in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea were up by between 3.38% and 5.57%. However, China's Shanghai Composite was down 1.95%
At 12:25 IST, the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 580.80 points or 4.01% to 15,065.13. It opened 554.23 points higher at 15,034.06 and surged to strike an intra-day high of 15,107.01 in early trade. At the day’s high, the Sensex gained 623.18 points. At the day’s low of 14,989.64 hit in mid-morning trade, the Sensex rose 505.81 points.
The S&P CNX Nifty jumped 167.70 points or 3.82% to 4,519.50
The NSG’s acceptance of the US proposal to drop a ban on nuclear trade with India will now put the Indo-US nuclear deal on the fast track. The approval came after almost three days of meeting in Vienna, ending a three-decade-long ban on India buying materials related to nuclear energy. The NSG meet was called to minimise any damage to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which India has not joined.
However, the nuclear deal still needs to be ratified by the US Congress before it could take force. The Congress must act before adjourning in late September 2008 for US presidential elections. If that does not happen, the deal could be left to an uncertain fate under a new US administration that takes office next year.
The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1772 shares advancing as compared to 646 that declined. 83 remained unchanged.
The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.92% to 5,861.81 and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.63% to 7,017.44.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2034 crore by 12:30 IST as compared to Rs 1510 crore by 11:30 IST.
All the 30 Sensex stocks were in the green. Ranbaxy, India’s top drug maker by sales, recovered from day’s low of Rs 438.05 and was now up 1.05% to Rs 455. The Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo’s open offer to acquire an additional 20% stake at Rs 737 a share in the company ended on 4 September 2008.
India’s largest private sector power generation firm by sales, Reliance Infrastructure jumped 7.50% to Rs 1092 on 5.44 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack.
Capital goods heavyweights Larsen & Toubro (up 5.95% to Rs 2772), and Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 5.55% to Rs 1827.90), surged.
India’s largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced 3.55% to Rs 2153.30 on 3.90 lakh shares.
Telecom pivotals were in demand on renewed buying interest. India’s second largest cellular services provider in terms of market capitalisation Reliance Communications advanced 3.82% to Rs 409 after its subsidiary Reliance Big Entertainment reportedly acquired a majority stake in the US-based cricket webcasting portal, Willow TV, for an undisclosed amount.
India’s largest cellular services provider in terms of market capitalisation Bharti Airtel rose 1.54% to Rs 817.25
India’s second largest software services exporter Infosys Technologies gained 2.06% to Rs 1748.60 and ICICI Bank, the country’s largest private sector ban by net profit jumped 6.57% to Rs 732.45
Aurobindo Pharma rose 0.95% to Rs 319.05 after the company said it has secured tentative approval from US Food & Drug Administration to manufacture and market Abacavir Sulphate/Lamivudine tablets. The company made this announcement during trading hours today, 8 September 2008.
Pratibha Industries surged 3.11% to Rs 278.60 after the company said on Monday, 8 September 2008, it has secured a contract worth Rs 44.75 crore from Delhi Jal Board for water transmission program.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October 2008 rose $2.37 to $108.60 per barrel today, 8 September 2008 on worries hurricane Ike will threaten production facilities in the oil-rich US Gulf Coast.
US markets ended mixed on Friday, 5 September 2008 after financial shares rebounded on hopes that concrete measures would be taken to rescue mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Dow Jones industrial average roe 32.73 points, or 0.29%, to 11,220.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 5.48 points, or 0.44%, to 1,242.31. However the Nasdaq composite index slid 3.16 points, or 0.14%, to 2,255.88.
Back home, intense selling in index pivotals ever since the opening bell led a sell-off on the bourses on Friday, 5 September 2008. The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 415.27 points or 2.79% to 14,483.83 and the S&P CNX Nifty declined 95.45 points or 2.15%, to settle at 4352.30.

Bush Admn set for efforts to get nuclear deal approved

Washington, Sept 8 (PTI) Facing the final hurdle, the Bush Administration today geared up to get the 123 Agreement quickly approved by the American Congress to bring the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal to fruition, as a key critic raised questions on an expedited timetable.

After winning a Nuclear Suppliers Group(NSG) waiver, the US is hoping for a bipartisan support for the Agreement with India getting the green signal from the nuclear cartel for resuming nuclear commerce after it approved the waiver.

In signs that the top echelons of the State department were investing their personal energy to see the 123 Agreement through , US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is herself leading the charge to open talks with Congress leaders at the earliest. The Congress, which opened today, will be in session till Sept.26. Rice has admitted that the Congressional calendar is short.

Though the Administration has voiced optimism over a Congress approval, potential problems loomed large with Senator Howard Berman, the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a vocal critic of the deal, saying it should first convince the lawmakers on the need for special procedures to speed up the process.

The Congress is being asked by the Administration to do away with the mandatory 30-day period before it can take up the Agreement for a simple yes-no vote without a debate.

If the US administration wants to seek special procedure to quicken Congressional consideration of the accord, it should show how the NSG decision is consistent with the Hyde Act, including which technology can be sent to India and what impact a nuclear test by New Delhi would have, Berman said.

A senior U.S. Official working on the India legislation was quoted as saying in the Wall Street Journal: "We still have a lot of hurdles in front of us."

Manmohan, Bush may ratify N-deal during PM's US visit

New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will go to Washington later this month and meet President George W Bush when the two may ratify the Indo-US nuclear deal agreed to between them three years ago following the ringing endorsement received at the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Singh, who is to undertake a tour of the US and France, will travel to New York first for attending the United Nations General Assembly after which he will go to Washington on a day's visit.

Former Ambassador to the US Lalit Mansingh feels by that time the US Congress could approve the 123 civil nuclear cooperation agreement entered into between Bush and Singh in July, 2005 and the two could sign it in the final ratification process of the deal.

If that is not possible by the time Singh visits Washington, the deal could be signed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice if by that time a "lame duck" session of the Congress approves it in December before the end of Bush's term in mid-January next year.

From the US, the Prime Minister is scheduled to travel to Marseilles in France for the annual Indo-EU summit and then to Paris for a meeting with French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

N-deal: The road ahead in US

From Vienna the action shifts back to Washington DC, where the Indo-US nuclear deal now awaits clearance from the US Congress.

The bilateral 123 agreement, which lays down the terms of nuclear trade between America and India, still has to face a yes or no vote.

Ashley Tellis, a key advisor to Bush government on the deal, says: "The next step is for the President to get the determinations required. I think there are seven determinations to be made. Bush has to make those determinations that India has completed a set of actions. Once those determinations are made which we can do really quickly assuming that India fulfills what is supposed to do the administration intends to send this to Congress at the earliest possible opportunity."

The earliest that can be is Monday, when Congress reconvenes after summer break for the last time before the presidential elections in November.

However, US law states there has to be a continuous 30-day session in Congress once a bill is introduced, in order for it to be put to a simple up-down vote.

The 30-day period can be waived but it requires the unanimous consent of all house members.

But well-known and influential opponents of the deal could come in the way.

In which case, it's more than likely that the deal will only be taken up in a lame duck session in the winter -- after the US elections, but before the new President, and Congress assume office.

While the NSG clearance means that India can now technically trade with any of its members without awaiting this vote, there is an unwritten understanding, that India will wait for the US Congress to ratify the 123.

Sharon Squassoni, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, adds: "If Congress did not pass the deal French and Russian and Japanese and other nuclear industries would be able to pursue contracts with India and US industries will not so there is a certain logic that Congress will feel that pressure and act accordingly."

But at this stage domestic politics will become a factor -- when much will depend on whether the Democrats want to give President George Bush a foreign policy success and a legacy that may mitigate the disasters of Iraq.

US-India nuclear deal called “foolish and risky”

WASHINGTON: The US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement approved by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in Vienna is a “foolish and risky deal” that will make every country free to sell nuclear technology to India while “asking virtually nothing from India in return”, in the process undermining the very international system that India so ardently seeks to join, according to a critical assessment published here on Sunday.
Mira Kamdar, a fellow at Asia Society, New York, writes in the Washington Post that while India needs energy, “this foolish, risky deal is not the way to get any of these things. India’s democracy has already paid a crippling price, and now the planet may too”. The Indo-US nuclear co-operation agreement was approved by the NSG at its meeting in Vienna this weekend. However, it still has to find congressional approval, an exercise that it may not be possible to complete during the short time left to do that. The deal, Kamdar argues, risks triggering a new arms race in Asia. If it passes, a “miffed and unstable Pakistan will seek nuclear parity with India, and China will fume at a transparent US ploy to balance Beijing’s rise by building up India as a counterweight next door”. The pact will gut global efforts to contain the spread of nuclear materials and encourage other countries to flout the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that India is now being rewarded for failing to sign.
Kamdar believes that the deal will divert billions of dollars away from India’s real development needs in sustainable agriculture, education, health care, housing, sanitation and roads. It will also distract India from developing clean energy sources, such as wind and solar power, and from reducing emissions from its many coal plants. Instead, the pact will focus the nation’s efforts on an energy source that will, under the rosiest of projections, contribute a mere 8 percent of India’s total energy needs — and that will not happened until 2030. The deal will generate billions of dollars in lucrative contracts for major US and Indian companies as well as help resuscitate the moribund US nuclear power industry. France and Russia, both of which support the deal, will reap huge profits in India. According to one estimate, the deal will generate more than $100 billion in business over the next 20 years, as well as a large number of jobs in India and the United States..
Kamdar writes that India will get unfettered access to nuclear fuel and technology without doing anything in return. It will not have to open all its reactors to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which means that both the new technologies India will now be able to acquire and the fuel it now has on hand can be ploughed into its nuclear weapons programme. “More ominously, the deal will tell other would-be nuclear powers — and nuclear rogues — that the old barriers to non-proliferation need not be taken seriously. They certainly have not been taken seriously by the US. Other, less high-minded powers will surely follow the shortsighted example being set by Delhi and Washington. Russia has emphatically signalled that it has had enough of global norms that it considers unfair and is keen to return to old-fashioned realpolitik. The prospect of meaningful steps toward disarmament by the existing nuclear powers is slim and dwindling.” The deal will not magically transform India into China’s economic or military equal. Even if India managed to match China reactor for reactor and missile for missile, it could do so only at the expense of precisely the investments in human and physical infrastructure that could make India into a truly great power, prosperous and secure. This is the real tragedy of the US-India nuclear deal, she concludes. .

Last phase of Indo-US Nuclear Deal Crucial

Despite shortage of Time, the US administration, business and Indian-American activists are found to be busy in pushing Congress for approval of the civil nuclear deal with India as quickly as possible but definitely before 26 September. This is the phase that US is to cross over and its important for the country’s prestige as well as business point of view, death and life question.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group has already given its okay to India giving its go-ahead signal for resumption of nuclear cooperation with India. Now the next stage is the 123 agreement, which shall now be placed before the US Congress on Monday.

There is no doubt that the deal enjoys broad support, but the time factor has to play a big part, 30 days are required to consider the deal, whereas the there are a few days short of the permissible time limit, hence there does arise a problem of time to a certain extent.

The session ends on September 26, whereas rules require 30 days for consideration of the measure, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is not worried, she is confident of her spade work. She gave her mind to the reporters in Algiers on Saturday.

“We understand that the time is very short.” “I have already talked before this NSG (meeting), several weeks before, to relevant committee chairs about trying to get it done, and I will have those conversations again, most likely on Monday or Tuesday.”
It is important for President George W Bush, who would naturally see that the business goes through smoothly. Rice feels that the agreement is a part of President Bush’s legacy, which he can’t take lightly.

“We are ready,” said Swadesh Chatterjee, chairman of the US-India Friendship Council, and hope to get the deal ratified within time. The group plans to meet a large number of Congressional leaders to apprise them of the urgency.
The only way to go smooth is first to get the exemption of 30 days rule, which I feel shall be granted without much hitch even though, there is some apprehension from Howard L Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who does’t seem to be supportive.

Howard L Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has created some doubt gave his mind to The New York Times on Saturday that he might not consider any expedited timetable until the Bush administration satisfies him with proper information about Vienna’s proceeding with grounds justifying the exemption of time limit. However, that is only a formality and it may not stand in the way of ignoring the time factor of 30 days.

Since the denial at this stage shall damage certain US companies who wish to deal with India and if the time limit is overruled, Russia and France may click the deal from India and this aspect the Americans can’t afford to ignore, hence the time limit shall stand no bar, and so Howard L Berman shall not stand in the way of exemption of time.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain, however, said on Saturday that Congressional leaders should act expeditiously to pass the agreement. Democratic nominee Barack Obama also has also said he supports the agreement.