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A concentration problem: Policymakers should support markets, not champions
Business Standard Editorial Comment Mumbai
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It has long been understood that one of the malign consequences of tariff walls, combined with domestic subsidies for industry through focused 'industrial policy,' is the growth of entrenched industrial conglomerates. Indian policymakers should have understood this better than most, given that this was part of the country's economic history after independence. It was not until the 1990s that liberalisation created some churning in the economy. There are worrying signs, however, that in the most recent phase of the Indian economy, aspects of this post-liberalisation trend have begun to be reversed. As economist Ajay Chhibber has pointed out in these

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35 minutes ago
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Nayara refinery to be hit hard by EU sanctions on Russian oil
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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. 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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%. 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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.

The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
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