The sheer size of the market makes India an attractive destination for sellers. India’s energy space, particularly gas, renewable, hydro and nuclear, is among the most attractive segments for all. Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources James Gordon Carr is in the country, exploring opportunities beyond oil and gas. BusinessLine caught up with him as he prepared for the 3rd India-Canada Energy Dialogue.

Where do you think developing countries like India are headed as far as climate change commitments are concerned?

It’s not for me to speculate where India is headed or what India should do.

It’s my responsibility as Canada’s Minister for Natural Resources to follow policies that we think help lead the world for a transition from the carbon economy to a lower carbon economy, and to look for partners internationally with whom we can learn and work together towards common goals.

Those common goals are to be found in the global commitments that have been made through the Paris COP21 Agreement or the Mission Innovation Agreement.

India has been accused of being protectionist. How justified is India’s subsidy approach?

The G20 had called for the phasing out of all fossil-fuel subsidies a number of years before.

The implementation of that policy is paced differently from country to country. So I don’t know at what pace India will choose to cut those subsides.

Canada has not begun this process yet. It has been complicated by commodity prices and other factors.

But there had been a dramatic increase in the investments of renewable sources of energy.

We are investing billions of dollars in green infrastructure and the natural resources sector.

It’s not only a matter of reducing fossil fuels, it’s also being innovative and finding more sustainable ways.

What are the main issues which you focussed on with your Indian counterpart during the India-Canada energy dialogue?

To expand beyond oil and gas, to include renewable, to include nuclear — and we think that is in the interest of both nations. We have had other conversations to bring the Minister up to speed with the developments in Canada on energy infrastructure projects that are currently under regulatory review. We understand that there is an interest in the possibility of LNG imports from Canada. Canada will be part of an international energy mix in our own way and in our own time.

What is the present status of IOC’s LNG project in Canada that had run into certain regulatory issues?

I don’t think they had run into any issues.

A decision on the project will be taken by the first half of October. We had sought a little bit more information from the company because we wanted to make sure that we have all the answers.

It had to do with the impact on salmon on Lelu Island (of Canada) and many indigenous communities who are involved in the project.

But all of the due diligence is now finished. These are the regulatory issues that need to be met. The application has now been deemed complete.

On nuclear, Canada has not yet shipped the second tranche of uranium to India after the first one in December last year. Are there plans to halt them for a while? Also, what about your plans to build nuclear reactors here?

The companies are in constant conversation with their Indian counterparts about broadening and deepening the possibilities.

Those are commercial conversations that we are not privy to. But the uranium supplies to India are for sure not being halted. We don’t comment on specifics like that for reasons of security and for commercial reasons.

Would Canada be looking at entering the nuclear space? Foreign players generally ask for a majority stake, which is a big issue. Is there a clear investment policy guideline on this issue?

Generally speaking, we advocate greater investment liberalisation.

This government has liberalised foreign investment rules in certain sectors. So, greater the investment liberalisation, the more attractive it is.

The Canadian government is now embarking on a review of foreign direct investments that will guide our future decision but the overall policy framework and orientation of the government will be liberalised trade.

Now that Canada’s focus is shifting towards green and renewable, while India is still going ahead with conventional assets, will your companies be a little reluctant to invest here?

It’s not about not doing oil and gas but to expand into other forms of energy — nuclear, renewable and hydroelectricity. And demand for oil and gas will continue to rise.

The Indian government is also focussing on nuclear, wind and solar. So both Canada and India are on the same page on expanding the energy portfolio.

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