Commodity-wise freight revenue by Railways goes up by 7.50 per cent during April-September 2009

Press Information Bureau Government of India ***** Commodity-wise freight revenue by Railways goes up by 7.50 per cent during April-September 2009  New Delhi : October 14, 2009    The Railways have generated Rs.27414.29 crore of revenue earnings from commodity-wise freight traffic during April-September 2009 as compared to Rs. 25502.48 crore during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 7.50 per cent. Railways carried 427.82 million tonnes of commodity-wise freight traffic during April-September 2009 as compared to 401.89 million tonnes carried during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 6.45 per cent. The Net Tonne Kilo Metres (NTKM) went up from 260428 million during April-September 2008 to 282658 million during April-September 2009, showing an increase of 8.54 per cent.   Out of the total earnings of Rs. 4443.92 crore from commodity-wise freight traffic during the month of September 2009, Rs. 1632.27 crore came from transportation of 29.78 million tonnes of coal, followed by Rs. 714.39 crore from 11.17 million tonnes of iron ore for exports, steel plants and for other domestic user, Rs. 378.18 crore from 6.95 million tonnes of cement, Rs. 355.46 crore from 3.26 million tonnes of foodgrains, Rs. 234.04 crore from 2.98 million tonnes of petroleum oil and lubricant (POL), Rs. 241.29 crore from 2.48 million tonnes of Pig iron and finished steel from steel plants and other points, Rs. 278.06 crore from 3.96 million tonnes of fertilizers, Rs. 70.48 crore from 0.96 million tonnes of raw material for steel plants except iron ore, Rs. 215.49 crore from 2.66 million tonnes by container service and Rs. 324.26 crore from 5.63 million tonnes of other goods.   AKS/HK/LK/TR              Press Information Bureau Government of India ***** Pallam Raju asks Argentina to open market to Indian Pharma Companies    New Delhi : October 14, 2009                   The Minister of State for Defence Dr MM Pallam Raju has sought easier access for Indian Pharmaceutical Companies to the Argentine market. Addressing a Seminar on "Argentina- India: Trade, Investment and Business Opportunities" here today, Dr Pallam Raju said that Indian Pharmaceutical Companies faced difficulty as India does not figure in the Group of 27 countries Buenos Aires allows imports from. He hoped that the matter would be resolved during the current visit of Argentine President Mrs Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to New Delhi.                   Following are the extracts from Dr. Pallam Raju's address to the Seminar:-    It is heartening to note that the visit of Her Excellency Mrs Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Hon'ble President of Argentina, accompanied by a high level delegation, is taking place during the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Argentina which were established on February 03, 1949. This visit marks 15 years since the last visit by the then Argentine President Mr Carlos Menem in 1994. A reciprocal visit subsequently by former Indian Prime Minister Mr PV Narasimha Rao took place in 1994.   FICCI, Assocham and CII, in cooperation with Embassy of Argentina, have organised this seminar on "India-Argentina: Trade, Investment and Business Opportunities" at a very opportune time.   India and Argentina share views on a number of international issues and are working to strengthen cooperation in a number of diverse areas. Both the countries have signed MoUs in the fields of Agricultural Research (in 2006), Antarctic Cooperation (in 1998) as well as agreement on Technical and Scientific Cooperation (in 1985). India and Argentina are also discussing cooperation in the areas of defence, industrial research, hydrocarbons, space and civil nuclear energy. Both the countries have signed the Bilateral Investment Promotion Agreement (BIPA). This demonstrates that the bilateral relations between the two countries are moving into higher trajectory.   Argentina is the world's largest exporter of sunflower oil, soyabean oil; world's second largest exporter of corn; and world's third largest producer of soyabeans. Argentina has high agricultural productivity. Argentina is, therefore, one of the major sources of import of oilseeds, pulses and other agricultural products by India. Indian companies are, therefore, also keen to develop agriculture land in Argentina.   Many Indian companies have already made investments in Argentina in the sectors like information technology, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and mining sectors. The investments by Indian companies are estimated to the tune of US$ 119 million. They employ around 1,300 Argentine nationals. A few Argentine companies have also set up operations in India in the engineering and pharma sectors. On the energy front, Indian and Argentine companies are discussing cooperation in oil and gas sectors.   There is good scope for Indian investments in Argentina in sectors such as petroleum, mining, manufacturing, information technology, agriculture, forestry, etc.   The bilateral trade between the two countries has witnessed quantum jump during the last 5 years from about US$ 611.29 million in 2003-04 to US $ 1.196 billion in 2007-08. Indian exports to Argentina during this period grew from US$ 87.33 million to US$ 289.68 million. Imports from Argentina, on the other hand, went up from US$ 523.96 in 2003-04 to US$ 905.87 million in 2007-08. Principal items of India's exports are chemicals, automobiles (including 2-wheelers) auto parts, textiles and garments, engineering goods, electrical & electronic equipment, metal products, hand tools, rubber & plastic products, jute yarn and products, essential oils, leather & leather products, etc. Chemical products account for about 40 % of India's total exports to Argentina. Principal items of India's imports include edible oils (constituting 75 % of total imports), chemicals, iron and steel products, cotton yarn, wool, leather, wood pulp, paper and paper board, zinc, copper waste and scrap etc. However, Argentina's share in India's total trade currently is still a meagre 0.29 %. Indian exports to Argentina constitute only 0.18 % of India's total exports; while imports from Argentina constitute 0.36 % of India's total imports. This means that there is a tremendous scope of enhancing bilateral trade in diverse sectors.   As Argentina is a member of Mercosur Trade Bloc, the India Mercosur Preferential Trade Agreement , which came into effect on June 1, 2009, is expected to give further boost to the bilateral trade between the two countries. Indian and Argentine companies are also keen to cooperate in other areas such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and manufacturing.   On behalf of the Indian Pharmaceutical Companies, I would like to utilise this opportunity to highlight a couple of issues, which I hope would engage the attention of Her Excellency the President of Argentina.   Firstly, in pharmaceutical sector, as per Argentine pharma import policy, pharma imports are allowed from a group of 15 countries mentioned under "Annexure 1" and another group of 11 countries mentioned under "Annexure 2". For all other countries outside these two annexures, there is a complicated procedure which makes pharma imports into Argentina from these countries very difficult. India currently does not figure in these two lists and, therefore, Indian pharma companies are not able to export finished formulations to Argentina even though Argentine pharma manufacturers import their pharmaceutical raw materials from India. This is inspite of the fact that India companies have good manufacturing and R&D capabilities as well as the largest number of USFDA approved plants outside USA.   Secondly, Indian companies have expressed that they would like the Argentine visas to be granted to them more expeditiously. I would like to conclude by saying that there is tremendous potential for bilateral trade and cooperation between the two countries and that needs to be effectively utilised.   PK/RAJ/spandey      Press Information Bureau Government of India ***** Indo-Oman Air Exercise -- Eastern Bridge to Foster Defence Cooperation Ties  New Delhi : October 14, 2009   Indian Air Force (IAF) and Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) will conduct a week-long bilateral Air Force exercise codenamed - Eastern Bridge - at the RAFO Base, Thumrait, Oman, from Oct 22-29. This will be the first-ever air exercise between the two countries.   Six, single-seat, Darin-I Jaguars from the Indian side will participate alongside RAFO Jaguars and F-16s. Incidentally, the two Air Forces are among the only ones that continue to operate the twin-engine Jaguar aircraft till date.   The IAF will also involve two IL-78 MKI air-to-air refueler aircraft for tanking the Jaguars enroute to Oman. Meanwhile, an IL-76 will airlift the IAF air warriors to Oman.   The main IAF contingent comprises 33 officers and 65 personnel below officer rank (PBOR). The support team of IL-76 and IL-78 MKI additionally comprises 12 officers and 26 PBOR.   Group Captain V Dedgaonkar is the team leader, while Group Captain K Kale is the Exercise Director for the IAF. The Jaguar Detachment will be led by Wing Commander A Mathur. The pilots belong to the two Jaguar squadrons - 16 (Cobras) and 27 (Flaming Arrows) that are based at IAF's Gorakhpur airbase under Central Air Command. A senior Air HQ observer along with one staff officer will also visit the IAF contingent during the period of the exercise. The exercise in the Gulf region will enhance understanding of operational, maintenance and administrative procedures between RAFO and the IAF. The bilateral exercise would also be cost-effective in terms of benefit realization of operational and tactical preparedness over an unknown mixed terrain of land and desert. Oman features among IAF's priority-one country listed for defence cooperation. IAF-RAFO defence cooperation was initiated in 2006, and has increased substantially in the current year. The defence cooperation is characterized by high-level visit exchanges, training and bilateral exercises between the two air forces. Oman has also been availing courses in India on a self-financing basis. Oman has also been providing turn-around facilities to our transiting military aircraft. Several rounds of Air Force Staff Talks with RAFO have now provided the necessary framework to expand defence cooperation with RAFO and rest of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries. Oman is geographically India's closest neighbor among the Arab countries in the strategically vital Persian Gulf region. The presence of over 3, 50,000 expatriate Indians and centuries of people-to-.people contact further enhances its importance in India's security mosaic.   TK Singha/spandey  PIB Kolkata