2025-02-01 09:54
NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - India will provide 55.97 billion rupees ($646.78 million) support for purchase of oil for the country's strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs), the budget document showed on Saturday. Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd (ISPRL), which manages federal oil inventories, operates three SPRs in southern India with a combined capacity of about 5 million tons. Part of that capacity is used for commercial operations by companies including Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC). The budget proposals also include an allocation of about 1.8 billion rupees for operation and maintenance of the SPRs and about 3.35 billion rupees for purchase of land and construction of new caverns. India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, imports over 80% of its oil needs and is raising its SPR capacity to protect against any global supply disruption. ISPRL has sought interest from private companies to build and operate a 2.5 million metric ton store for petroleum reserves at Padur in the southern state of Karnataka. India is also planning to build a 4 million ton SPR at Chandikhol in the eastern state of Odisha. ($1 = 86.5360 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-budget-india-provide-647-million-support-strategic-reserve-oil-purchases-2025-02-01/
2025-02-01 09:40
OSLO, Feb 1 (Reuters) - A Norwegian cargo ship with an all-Russian crew suspected of damaging a Baltic Sea telecoms cable has been released by authorities in Norway after no link to the incident was found, the police said late on Friday. The Silver Dania was seized at the request of Latvian authorities and with the help of Norway's coast guard, police in the northern Norwegian city of Tromsoe said previously. "The investigation will continue, but we see no reason for the ship to remain in Tromsoe any longer. No findings have been made linking the ship to the act (of damaging the subsea cable)," the police said in a statement. The Silver Dania's owner, the Silver Sea shipping group, denied that the vessel was involved in the incident, Norwegian broadcaster TV2 reported. Sweden and Latvia are investigating the suspected sabotage on Sunday of the cable linking the two countries. Swedish police seized and boarded the Maltese-flagged cargo ship Vezhen on suspicion it caused the damage. The head of the Vezhen's operator, a Bulgarian company, said on Monday it might have struck the cable with its anchor but denied any malicious intent. Mats Ljungqvist, the prosecutor handling the investigation in Sweden, said on Friday that they had looked at the Norwegian ship, but dismissed its involvement. The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link, and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The NATO military alliance recently boosted its presence with frigates, aircraft, and naval drones. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/norway-releases-ship-suspected-baltic-sea-cable-damage-2025-02-01/
2025-02-01 08:59
NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - India will set up a 250-billion-rupee ($2.9-billion) maritime development fund for the long-term financing of the country's shipbuilding and repair industry, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. The South Asian nation is spending billions of dollars to refurbish infrastructure in an effort to become a world-class manufacturer as Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims for India to be a developed nation by 2047. The government will contribute 49% of the fund and mobilise the remainder from ports and the private sector, Sitharaman in presenting budget proposals for the fiscal year from April 1. India's shipping fleet has not kept pace with its surge in trade, including imports of energy and exports of refined oil products. The government plans to set up a new shipping company with participation from oil refiners and Shipping Corp of India to expand its fleet to cut freight payments to foreign carriers, Reuters reported last year. Shipping Corp's shares rose 3.8% after the budget announcement. The governments will also promote shipbuilding clusters to increase the range, categories and capacity of ships, Sitharaman said. "This will include additional infrastructure facilities, skilling and technology to develop the entire ecosystem." India will also issue credit notes for shipbreaking in Indian yards to incentivise the scrapping of old vessels and building of new ones. Sitharaman announced extention of import tax exemption by 10 years on inputs needed for ship building and ship breaking activities. ($1 = 86.5360 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-budget-india-set-up-3-bln-maritime-development-fund-shipping-industry-2025-02-01/
2025-02-01 08:54
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - India will launch a six-year programme to boost the output of pulse crops by taking measures including directing state agencies to buy the staple at guaranteed prices, the finance minister said on Saturday, in a bid to cut reliance on imports. Rising demand has forced India, the world's biggest producer and consumer of pulses, to spend a record $5 billion on importing pulses such as pigeon peas, black matpe, and red lentils in 2024, making the country the world's top importer. India currently imports large amounts of pulses from Canada, Myanmar, Russia, and a host of African countries. Over the next four years, state agencies will procure pigeon peas, black matpe, and red lentils from farmers at government-set guaranteed, or support, prices, Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the annual budget for fiscal year 2025-2026. Sitharaman said her government would also aim to boost cotton production, particularly of the extra-long staple variety, by supporting research and development. India is the world's second-biggest cotton producer, but yields have fallen in recent years, turning the country into a net importer of the fibre, after previously being a net exporter. Announcing measures to assist millions of farmers grappling with low incomes, Sitharaman unveiled plans to set up a urea plant with an annual capacity of 1.2 million metric tons to boost supplies of one of the key crop nutrients. Agriculture is a mainstay in India. The sector employs nearly 45% of the workforce and contributes about 15% to the $3.5 trillion economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government will increase the subsidized farm loan limit to 500,000 rupees ($5,777.94) from the existing 300,000 rupees, Sitharaman said. She said the government will also launch a "national mission" to develop high-yielding seed varieties. Farm policy experts say India, the world's most populous country, needs to develop high-yielding seeds to overcome the problem of shrinking farmlands, caused by rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, and erratic weather patterns. ($1 = 86.53 rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-budget-india-unveils-long-term-programmes-boost-pulses-cotton-output-2025-02-01/
2025-02-01 07:30
NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - India has scrapped customs duty on waste and scrap of a dozen critical minerals, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during her annual budget presentation on Saturday. India scrapped customs duty on waste and scrap of antimony, cobalt, tungsten and copper scrap, among others. Customs duties on waste and scrap of lithium-ion battery, as well as waste and scrap of lead, zinc and cobalt powder were also scrapped. "This will help secure their availability for manufacturing in India," Sitharaman said in her speech. The government will also launch a policy for recovery of critical minerals from tailings or by-products of mining, Sitharaman said. Last year, the government had scrapped customs duty on 25 critical minerals, which are not available domestically. Last week, India approved 163 billion rupees ($1.88 billion) to develop its critical minerals sector, as the world's fastest-growing major economy aims to secure raw materials such as lithium. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/india-budget-india-scraps-custom-duties-waste-scrap-dozen-critical-minerals-2025-02-01/
2025-02-01 07:19
MUMBAI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - India will spend 4.57 trillion rupees ($52.81 billion) on subsidies for food, fertilisers and rural employment schemes in the next financial year, nearly unchanged from the current year's allocation, according to the federal government's budget documents released on Saturday. The federal government has budgeted a collective spending of 4.54 trillion rupees for the current fiscal year ending March 31 across the three types of subsidies, as per the government's revised estimates. The allocation for the government's flagship rural jobs guarantee programme has been retained at 860 billion rupees, while that for fertilisers has been marginally lowered to 1.67 trillion rupees from 1.71 trillion revised estimate for 2024-25. The Asian country has budgeted food subsidy for the upcoming financial year at 2.03 trillion rupees, slightly above the 1.97 trillion revised estimate for the ongoing fiscal. India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the government's annual budget in the backdrop of slowing growth in Asia's third-largest economy and rising global uncertainties. The slowdown has been marked by weakness in urban consumption and lackluster private sector investment, although the rural economy, which the employment and fertiliser schemes are aimed at, is showing signs of recovery. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), first introduced in 2006, citizens can enrol for work such as building roads, digging wells or creating other rural infrastructure and receive a minimum wage for at least 100 days each year. India's unemployment rate stood at 7.8% in December 2024, marginally higher than 7.7% the previous month, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy showed. In absolute terms, the number of unemployed persons increased from 34.7 million to 35.6 million, the data showed. ($1 = 86.5360 Indian rupees) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-budget-india-retains-rural-employment-spending-860-billion-rupees-fiscal-2025-02-01/
