Cameron directly lobbies with Indian PM to further Brit companies’ interest
February 19th, 2011 - 6:44 pm ICT by ANI
London, Feb 19 (ANI): British Prime Minister David Cameron has personally intervened on behalf of two British companies facing problems in India, Cairn Energy and Vodafone, by raising their concerns with his Indian counterpart Dr. Manmohan Singh.
The letter to Dr. Singh from Cameron has been described as ‘friendly, not finger wagging,’ by officials who are anxious to develop British trade relationship with India.
Cameron wrote to Dr Singh expressing worries about unpredictable Indian government decisions, which could potentially be costly for the two companies.
The British Prime Minister specifically mentioned the delay in government approval for Cairn Energy’s 9.6 billion dollars sale of its Indian subsidiary to Vedanta Resources. The deal has been waiting for the nod from Indian authorities for seven months.
The Telegraph reports that the deal has been held up because India’s state-owned oil company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), which jointly owns the oil fields with Cairn, wants higher royalties if the deal goes through.
British officials said ONGC’s attempt to alter the agreement threatened not only the deal, but also the value of Cairn Energy.
Cameron also referred in the letter to an unexpected two billion dollars demand to Vodafone and unpaid bills of more than 20 million pounds due to British companies who worked on last year’s Commonwealth Games staged in Delhi.
The intervention follows Cameron’s trade delegation to India last year, on which Sir Bill Gammell, chief executive of Cairn Energy, accompanied him. (ANI)
- Vedanta buys out Cairn's India subsidiary - Dec 08, 2011
- Vedanta meets all conditions for stake buy out: Cairn - Dec 07, 2011
- Supreme Court to hear PIL against Cairn-Vedanta deal - Feb 27, 2012
- SC notice to government on plea against Cairn-Vedanta deal (Lead) - Apr 23, 2012
- Cairn Energy set to earn windfall from sale of business in India - Aug 16, 2010
- ONGC approves Cairn-Vedanta deal - Sep 28, 2011
- India gives conditional approval to Cairn-Vedanta deal - Jun 30, 2011
- ONGC says its approval needed for Cairn-Vedanta deal - Oct 21, 2010
- Cairn chief meets India's oil minister after Vedanta deal - Aug 17, 2010
- Cairn Energy tells Indian arm to accept government terms - Aug 23, 2011
- ONGC's interest to be fully protected: Deora - Oct 27, 2010
- Cairn extends deadline for wrapping up deal with Vedanta - May 19, 2011
- Cairn-Vedanta deal a complex issue, says Sharma - Apr 08, 2011
- SC notice to government on plea against Cairn-Vedanta deal - Apr 23, 2012
- Group of Ministers to examine Cairn-Vedanta deal - Apr 06, 2011
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