BRICS Bank Chief : Raghuram Rajan ?

 
Volatility in the rupee has reduced and external account stabilised over the first 14 months of Raghuram Rajan’s tenure Governor of the Reserve Bank. File photo: Mohammed Yousuf  

H : Puja Mehra ; November 17, 2014 07:31

This short list is not final; the Modi government is scouting for more names before it takes a decision.

Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan, a Union Cabinet Minister and a well-known banker in infrastructure finance have figured so far in discussions on possible candidates for BRICS’ New Development Bank president. This short list is not final; the Modi government is scouting for more names before it takes a decision on the nomination, a Finance Ministry source told The Hindu.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his opening statement at the BRICS leaders’ meet in Brisbane on Saturday, proposed that 2016 be set as the target for the inauguration of the BRICS Bank. “We hope to ratify the agreement by the end of the year… We would soon nominate our candidate for the post of the presidency,” Mr. Modi said. The BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — had agreed at their sixth Summit in Fortaleza that India will nominate the first president of the bank and that its headquarters will be located in China.

The Modi government has not formally reached out to Mr. Rajan as yet, the source said. He also indicated that ultimately it might become difficult for India to spare Mr. Rajan for the role.

Volatility in the rupee has reduced and external account stabilised over the first 14 months of Mr. Rajan’s tenure at the Reserve Bank

MOU for loan : $1 billion from the State Bank of India for the Carmichael mine in Queensland,Australia

Melbourne: Adani Enterprises won support on Monday from the Indian government and an Australian state to help it build a $7 billion coal mine, rail and port project, defying a slump in coal prices to 5-1/2 year lows that has stalled rival projects.

The Indian trading and infrastructure conglomerate signed a memorandum of understanding to line up a loan of up to $1 billion from the State Bank of India for the Carmichael mine in Queensland, which it aims to build by the end of 2017.

"The MOU with SBI is a significant milestone in the development of our Carmichael mine," Adani Group Chairman and founder, Gautam Adani, who has close ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said in a statement, following a signing in Brisbane.

Adani came to Brisbane with a business delegation from India for the G20 summit, which Modi attended over the weekend.

The company also won a commitment from the state government to take short-term, minority stakes in rail and port infrastructure needed to unlock massive coal reserves in the untapped Galilee Basin. Coal from the region must be sent 400 km (250 miles) by rail to Australia's east coast.

"We are bringing on board valued partners in different facets of this integrated project, ensuring we will meet our guidance of first coal in 2017," Adani Mining CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj said in a statement.

No final investment decision has been made on the Carmichael project.

Australia's federal and Queensland governments are eager to see the mine built following the loss of more than 4,000 coal jobs over the past two years, but analysts and project finance experts believe Adani may have underestimated the challenge of raising funds for the project.

Adani, which is also facing a campaign by anti-coal campaigners, is counting on lining up funding from South Korea, having named POSCO Engineering & Construction Co Ltd as the preferred contractor to build its rail line.

Adani's apparent momentum on the Carmichael project is in stark contrast to rival Indian firm GVK's slow progress on another huge coal mine in the Galilee Basin, the Alpha project, which is co-owned by Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Much bigger coal rivals, like BHP Billiton and Glencore , have also shelved coal developments in Queensland at a time when a third of Australia's coal output is making losses.

Reuters 17 Nov 2014