India has decided to consider a sovereign wealth fund to
assist its state-run units acquire oil and mineral assets and related raw
material abroad as part of its larger goal for achieving energy security and
approved a new policy in this regard.
The new policy comes against the backdrop of limited success
of Indian state-run units, such Coal India (CIL), National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC)
as Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) in acquiring oil blocks and ores abroad
to meet the demand back home.
“There is a strong feeling that if India were to have security in raw
material it should be investing aggressively in acquiring assets abroad,” said
S. Sundareshan, secretary, heavy industry and public sector enterprises, said
after the cabinet meeting.
“The feeling has been that we have not been as nimble footed as other
countries in this regard. The proposal approved today will possibly make our
companies more so,” he said adding that the new norms will apply to firms
in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and power.
In recent weeks, Indian power plants have been severely hit
by a coal crunch, which has resulted in electricity generation dropping across
the country. Several other sectors such as steel have also been complaining
about the shortage of raw materials.
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