The Hindu : National : Joint projects with France favoured

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Joint projects with France favoured

Ashok Dasgupta

123 Agreement may not restrain deals of Indian firms in other countries

Contracts will be decided on purely commercial terms: FICCI president
Business delegation plans interaction with
French industry

NEW DELHI: Even as the 123 Agreement to be inked with the U.S. will essentially serve as a launching pad for India to engage with other nations in the civilian nuclear arena, it is the ratification of the ‘India specific’ waivers by both the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) that has opened a window to engage with any country in nuclear energy on a bilateral mode.

Stating this in an interview with The Hindu, FICCI president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is heading a 60-member business delegation as part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s entourage to France, said: “Any conditions of the 123 Agreement may not at all be relevant insofar as commercial transactions that Indian companies would finalise with agencies of other countries.”

Mr. Chandrasekhar pointed out that even if the 123 Agreement with the U.S. “has been the key that has unlocked the door for engaging in nuclear commerce, it is not necessary that U.S. companies get the bulk of the nuclear business in India. Other countries like Germany, France, Russia and Japan will also compete for a share of the pie and contracts will be decided on purely commercial terms of fuel and equipment supply.”

“As more than 80 per cent of France’s power is nuclear, and with its inherent strengths in manufacture of nuclear power equipment, Indian companies should seek opportunities to engage with the French government and industry to work on joint projects to ramp up capacities in nuclear [power] generation and equipment manufacturing and other allied activities like EPC (engineering, procurement and construction),” Mr. Chandrasekhar said.

The FICCI president explained that the visit to France from September 29 to October 3 was part of the apex chamber’s commitment to promote business relations at all levels and dimensions of the bilateral engagement matrix with the European nation. The business delegation mobilised by FICCI is scheduled to participate in a variety of comprehensive interactive sessions with the French industry during the five-day visit.

Mr. Chandrasekhar said the business delegation is multifaceted and has diverse components, with each segment such as CEOs, SMEs (small & medium enterprises (SMEs), luxury and lifestyle companies having its customised agenda of interaction.

The CEOs’ delegation, led by FICCI’s senior vice president Harshpati Singhania, is slated to participate in the India-EU business summit which pertains to areas such as policy recommendations, trade and investment promotion. With its other members being CEOs of key Indian companies active in the European Union, the country perspective is to be projected by representative speakers such as Mukul Kasliwal of MW Corp., Vinod Mittal of Ispat Industries, Nader Hakimi of the Hinduja Group, Paris and Varun Tuli of Yes Bank.

As for the luxury companies’ business segment, Mr. Chandrasekhar said the objective would be to promote skill integration and new initiatives to promote ‘India indigenous lifestyle brands’ which is the underlying philosophy of FICCI’s lifestyle forum. The objective of the SME segment’s interaction during the visit, he said, would be to provide a meaningful avenue for Indo-French cooperation in key small and medium industry sectors through participation in a business forum with high-level representation from Indian and French policymakers such as Ministers and bureaucrats, pre-scheduled B2B meetings and visits to important industrial regions in France.

“FICCI is confident that the platform being provided to Indian SMEs will germinate collaboration/joint ventures, especially in innovation/technology-oriented spheres and investment,” Mr. Chandrasekhar said.

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