"Amongst global uncertainty, India is an oasis": Union Minister Piyush Goyal lauds PM Modi's leadership for economic growth
Speaking to reporters, Union Minister Goyal said, 'I think amongst the global uncertainty, India is an oasis. India is a stable economy. India has a huge domestic market. 140 crore Indians themselves drive economic growth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visionary leadership is helping India transform into a modern powerhouse of industry, infrastructure, innovation and clearly the world today looks up to India as an engine of growth.'
He added that India will continue to enter trade arrangements with developed countries.
'We will continue to enter into modern trading arrangements with developed countries with whom we complement our strengths and their strengths so that it can be a win-win for both geographies,' Goyal said.
Lauding tourism in India, Goyal said different parts of the country have something special to offer.
Goyal told reporters, 'When tourists come from a foreign country, they want to witness the qualities of the country and experience new things. When a person visits Moradabad and witnesses the brassware, he will be astonished. If someone offers prayers at Tirupati and witnesses the sarees there, or witnesses the workmanship in Gujarat, he will be astonished. Every corner of our country has something special to offer.'
Earlier on Monday, Piyush Goyal attended the National 'One District One Product' (ODOP) Awards 2025 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
Sharing visuals from his address at the awards, the Union Minister wrote on X, 'Bihar is prioritising ODOP in all its 38 districts.'
In another X post, he wrote, 'Our goal must be to make ODOP synonymous with high quality & high value globally.' (ANI)
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Mint
28 minutes ago
- Mint
Nayara refinery to be hit hard by EU sanctions on Russian oil
New Delhi: In measures targeting Russia's ability to raise revenues from its oil and energy sector in the midst of war with Ukraine, the European Union (EU) on Friday unveiled sanctions on the Rosneft-owned Nayara Energy's 20 million-tonne refinery in Vadinar, Gujarat, and lowered the price cap on Russian oil by 15% to $47.6 per barrel from $60. It also imposed sanctions on more 'shadow fleet ships', which are largely used for moving crude oil from Russia. Kaja Kallas, EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy said in a post on social media platform X that the 27-nation grouping has also agreed to ban financial transactions related to Russia's Nord Stream gas pipeline. Late on Friday night, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs, said in a statement: 'We have noted the latest sanctions announced by the European Union. India does not subscribe to any unilateral sanction measures. We are a responsible actor and remain fully committed to our legal obligations." The development is expected to hit Nayara hard, especially its exports of petroleum products. Nayara is one of only two Indian companies, the other being Reliance Industries, which exports petroleum products from the country, since only private companies are allowed to export petroleum products. India's exports of petroleum products rose 3.4% in volume terms to 64.7 million tonnes in FY25, compared to 62.6 million tonnes in FY24, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. To be sure, while Nayara has the largest private sector retail fuel network of the country with about 6,500 fuel bunks, its share of the domestic market is small considering around 90,000 petrol pumps in India–a market dominated by state-owned companies. Meanwhile, according to reports, Rosneft is also looking at selling its stake in its subsidiary. In March, The Economic Times reported that Russia's Rosneft, which owns 49.13% stake in Nayara Energy, is looking to exit the Indian venture, as due to sanctions, the Russian company has not been able to repatriate earnings from Nayara Energy in the past few years. 'Petroleum product exports from Nayara's refinery to Europe would be impacted by the sanctions. Europe has been a major buyer of these products. Further, the likely talks of a stake sale by Rosneft also may be impacted," said Shashi Mathews, partner at law firm CMS Induslaw. However, he added that refiners should be able to navigate the price cap, as they have been already operating with the $60 price cap for the past few years. 'It's an evolving situation, it needs to be seen how this builds. The implementation of sanctions on the shadow fleet and the price cap would be key. Impact on supplies will raise prices," said Prashant Vasisht, senior vice president and co-group head, corporate rating, Icra. A statement by the Council of European Union said: 'The bloc will ban the import of 'refined petroleum products made from Russian crude oil and coming from any third country – with the exception of Canada, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States – thereby preventing Russia's crude oil from reaching the EU market through the back door." Queries sent to Nayara and Rosneft remained unanswered till press time. Experts said the move may close an emerging market for India. Europe is a key market for Indian petroleum products along with South East Asia and the US. In a report in December 2024, S&P Global Commodity Insights had said: 'Europe is increasingly turning out to be the brightest market for Indian oil products exporters that have capitalized on the shortages of diesel and other fuels due to geopolitical tensions and are shipping plentiful cargoes, a trend that is set to spill over to next year." It had noted that refineries in India have ramped up exports to Europe and the Mediterranean since Europe and the UK banned Russian diesel in 2023. The report added that Reliance Industries is the largest products exporter to Europe. Kallas, who is also the vice-president of the European Commission, said on X that the EU is standing firm.'We're cutting the Kremlin's war budget further, going after 105 more shadow fleet ships, their enablers, and limiting Russian banks' access to funding. For the first time, we're designating a flag registry and the biggest Rosneft refinery in India." According to the EU statement, the latest sanction on 105 vessels takes the total vessels under sanction to 444. These vessels will be subject to a ban on port access and on the provision of a broad range of services related to maritime transport. 'Full-fledged sanctions (asset freezes, travel bans, bans on providing resources) target Russian and international companies managing shadow fleet vessels, traders of Russian crude oil and a major customer of the shadow fleet – a refinery in India with Rosneft as its main shareholder," said the council's statement. 'With today's package, the EU is curtailing Russia's energy revenues through a number of different measures. The EU is lowering the price cap for crude oil from $60 to $47.6 per barrel, to align it with current global oil prices and is introducing an automatic and dynamic mechanism to modify the oil price cap and ensure that this price cap is effective. Oil exports still represent one third of the Russian government's revenues," said the EU statement. Experts said the sanctions on shadow fleet ships may impact supply of Russian crude and lift prices. On Friday, global crude prices increased about 1%. At the time of writing, the September contract of Brent on the Intercontinental Exchange was at $70.16 per barrel, higher by 0.92% from its previous close. Similarly, the August contract of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on the NYMEX rose 1.13% to $68.30 per barrel. With US President Donald Trump warning of sanctions on countries that import Russian oil, Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri had said on Thursday while addressing an energy conference in New Delhi that India is not worried about any such penalties and will navigate any eventuality as there is enough supply in the market. Trump recently said the US could impose 100% tariffs on Russia and 'secondary tariffs" on countries importing its oil—mainly China and India—if Moscow didn't agree to a deal to end the Ukraine war in 50 days. Responding to a question on India's likely measures in case secondary sanctions were imposed on Russian oil imports, Union minister Puri said: 'My own view is the price of oil will come down. It will come down only because there is more oil available in the international market. There is more oil coming on the global market from the western hemisphere. I mean countries such as Brazil, Guyana and Canada. They're not even OPEC+ members. I'm not worried at all. If something happens, we'll deal with it." He added that India felt 'no pressure" and had enough supply options to ensure uninterrupted availability even in turbulent times. On Thursday, the ministry of external affairs responded to a recent remark by NATO secretary general Mark Rutte's wherein he had warned of secondary sanctions against countries buying Russian oil. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, sanctions-hit Russia has emerged as the top supplier of oil to India, accounting for about 36% of India's total oil imports. In February 2022 when the war started, it accounted for just 0.2% of India's total oil imports.
Time of India
43 minutes ago
- Time of India
Crackdown on Bangladeshis: Hindu refugees feel the heat without docus, CAA still a mirage
Nagpur: With many states, including Maharashtra launching a crackdown on infiltrators from Bangladesh, the Bengali-speaking Hindus who fled the restive country to escape religious persecution are feeling the heat. "We were part of the exodus from erstwhile East Pakistan. Then there was another surge of refugees even after Bangladesh was formed, many of whom were settled in the forested areas of Gadchiroli. We Hindus escaped the communal cauldron to find refuge in India, and now we are being hounded again by police. We feel helpless when asked to prove our credentials in the ongoing drive against illegal Bangladeshis," said Subodh Biswas, national president of Nikhil Bharat Bangali Samanbay Samiti — a nationwide guild of Hindus from erstwhile East Pakistan. With many tossed in detention camps across states, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to file an affidavit, explaining the rationale behind the action. Most importantly, despite being Hindus, they cannot become Indian nationals through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) due to lack of documents, say Samiti leaders. The law opened doors to minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to become Indian citizens, but majority Hindus who fled Bangladesh under trying circumstances in the dead of night failed to carry documents with them. Biswas, who is based in Nagpur, told TOI that Bengali-speaking Hindus are now in a spot. "Maharashtra police are demanding documents to prove our nationality, which not many can produce," he said, adding hundreds of Hindus continued to stream into India even after Bangladesh was formed and most of them joined their community members in refugee camps and settlement zones in Gadchiroli. "They could have simply applied under CAA, but documents that need to be submitted include credentials from Bangladesh, which most Hindus don't have. They fled the country under compelling conditions and often to escape death. Who will help them retrieve the papers now," asked Biswas. This makes them vulnerable to police raids. There have been arrests in Maharashtra too. Two migrant workers were arrested in Akola and continue to remain in custody. There was another arrest in Nashik — the person was in India for 50 years, he says. Biswas said the Samiti has demanded that CAA conditions be relaxed for refugees. He also shared a letter issued by the police in Kanker district in Chhattisgarh, appealing to local villagers to share information on Bangladeshi infiltrators. Like Gadchiroli, settlement camps were also established in Chhattisgarh after the 1971 war. Manoj Mandal, the Samiti representative at Pakhanjur town of Chhattisgarh, said the state has also issued a toll-free number for locals to report on the whereabouts of Bengali-speaking people. This has created troubles for many Hindus. At times even personal scores are being settled. In Odisha, where detention camps were set up, said Nimai Sarkar, a former MP and now the state president of the Samiti. "Hindus fled for their lives and did not carry anything. How can they be expected to submit documents if they apply under CAA," he asked. A CAA applicant can put up any document like a birth certificate from Bangladesh, a passport, or even a paper that proves the applicant's grandparents were citizens of that country, said a source handling the cases.
Time of India
43 minutes ago
- Time of India
Only 68 words on Shivaji Maharaj in CBSE books, claim Maha MLCs
Nagpur: Maharashtra legislative council members from across partylines on Friday raised concerns over the representation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in CBSE schools' textbooks. They claimed that just 68 words about the Maratha king feature across 2,200 pages of history taught from Classes 1 to 10. The state govt responded, saying the issue has been formally raised with the Union govt and would be resolved. Raising the matter, MLC Satyajeet Tambe said it was "highly condemnable" that Shivaji Maharaj's legacy found such inadequate mention in the NCERT syllabus, which is used by all CBSE-affiliated schools. "We are promoting the NCERT curriculum across Maharashtra, yet across 2,200 pages, only 68 words are about Shivaji Maharaj. This is unacceptable," said Tambe. He added that Shivaji Maharaj's contributions should be taught not just in Maharashtra but across the country. Minister of state for school education Pankaj Bhoyar said the government was serious about the issue and had already flagged the matter to the Union education ministry. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo "Our school education minister Dada Bhuse met the Union education minister to discuss this. History books could have been updated earlier too. Our govt has ensured Unesco recognition for 12 forts of Shivaji Maharaj, so we are serious about preserving his legacy," Bhoyar said. MLC Amit Gorkhe demanded a timeline for resolving the issue and sought greater inclusion of Shivaji Maharaj's history in textbooks. MLC Bhavana Gawali also criticised the limited mention of Shivaji Maharaj in history books, saying the state should have pursued the matter more aggressively in Delhi. "We have a pro-Hindutva govt at the Centre; this should have been resolved already," she said. Bhoyar assured the House that Maharashtra's own curriculum being developed on CBSE lines would include maximum focus on the state's historical and geographical aspects. "Since Bhavana Gawaliji has spent five terms as MP in Delhi, I will take her guidance in resolving this issue quickly," Bhoyar said.
