Carney eyes energy deals with India as he arrives in Mumbai

MUMBAI, INDIA — Prime Minister Mark Carney touched down in India’s financial heart on Friday, with energy deals at the top of mind. 

Greeted by local officials and India’s High Commissioner to Canada, a red carpet was rolled out on the tarmac of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport to greet Carney and his wife, Diana, as they arrived in Mumbai.

The city’s skyline, marked with swanky high-rises next to rows of slums, greeted the prime minister as he began his three-day trip in India’s financial capital where he hopes to shore up more investment into Canada, while pitching his country’s resources to help power the country of 1.4 billion people

At the heart of Canada’s pitch was its natural resources and smack in the middle of the country with the goods is Saskatchewan, whose premier joined Carney on his delegation, with his own set of meetings to attend.

The province boasts Canada’s biggest source of uranium, with its mines located in the province’s far north. Globally, Canada stands as the second largest producer of uranium, following Kazakhstan.

India currently needs a massive increase of uranium to achieve it nuclear power goals. Energy was one of the areas its envoy to Canada identified as a priority area that will shape how the two countries will seek deepen their relationship — the overarching goal of Carney’s trip in the first place. 

“How do we work on oil and gas? Energy, nuclear, renewables, critical minerals, agriculture,” said Dinesh Patnaik

Asked specifically about uranium and the chances of finalizing a possible 10-year $2.8 billion deal, he said, “that will of course be there.”

Government officials, speaking on a not-for-attribution basis to reporters earlier this week, said Carney will spend his meetings in Mumbai “to explore opportunities for partnerships” when it came to energy and agriculture.

The official said that besides formally launching the negotiations of a comprehensive trade agreement which both Canada and India anticipate being signed in months, that “a number of (memorandum of understandings) … will be signed, coupled with “commercial arrangement deals” to be announced during the duration of Carney’s trip, which will also see him travel to India’s capital of New Delhi, before departing for Australia and Japan.

Natural Resources and Energy Minister Tim Hodgson travelled to India back in January in hopes of laying some of the groundwork for future deals to be established.

“India’s state-owned energy companies, its private sector and its clean tech innovators were all at the table ready and enthusiastic about doing business with Canada,” he said in a news conference last month.

“The message was consistent: India needs scale, reliability and long-term partnerships and Canada can offer all three of these.”

Besides pointing to critical minerals such as lithium, cooper and nickel, he said India has a “huge demand” for liquified natural gas as well as crude oil, with the minister adding that India boasts the largest refining capacity in the world.

Among the messages he returned to Canada with was that India wants to access crude oil off its West Coast, whether through the TMX pipeline or a potential new pipeline, which Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is pitching to build.

National Post

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