The Welsh government has joined the chorus of voices questioning Britain's controversial carbon floor price, the First Minister of Wales, Mr Carwyn Jones, said ahead of a visit to India next week. The measures have been repeatedly criticised by Tata Steel and other manufacturers in Britain.

“We have raised it with the UK government. Our theory is that all you end up doing is exporting jobs out of the UK to somewhere where carbon reduction isn't seen as a priority,” said Mr Jones, who heads the Labour government in Wales, in an interview this week. “We can't be put in a position where our energy prices are seen as being uncompetitive when it comes to large scale manufacturing,” he said.

With around 3,500 employees in Port Talbot and 1,500 in Llanwern, Tata Steel is a major employer in Wales, a nation of just 3 million people. Tata Steel, along with other members of Britain's energy intensive industries sector, has repeatedly warned that electricity prices were well in excess of the rest of Europe, as a result of the carbon floor price and other measures, putting immense pressure on the industry. “It has to be done at the European level,” said Mr Jones.

Mr Jones, who will begin a visit to New Delhi and Mumbai next Wednesday, is heading a delegation of businesspersons and representatives from universities in Wales in the hope of strengthening trade links between the two nations. In the 4 years to March last year, £12.3 million of deals were done between the two countries.

Appetite for investment

“We have found with Tata that there is an appetite for investment in Wales and we want to make sure that it continues.” Among the specific issues he hoped to clinch was a commitment by Tata Steel to sink a mine in Wales, creating around 500 jobs. “I would like to get the Tatas to get a decision on the matter of soon,” he said.

Mr Jones's visit will come in the wake of that of Mr George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who has been vocal in criticisms of Indian government policy, specifically over the decision regarding retroactive taxes for overseas deals.

Mr Jones made clear that the Welsh government's stance on India was distinct from that of Britain's Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government on a number of levels. On the topic of opening up sectors, including retail, Mr Jones said it was understandable that India was keen to move slowly. “Not being a particularly rampant free marketer, the last thing I'd say to a country is: open up your economy over night,” he said. “It doesn't give enough time to traditionally run industries to adapt.”

He also warned of the impact of the coalition government's tightening of immigration restrictions in Britain on relations with India, particularly when it came to access to universities. “There is a perception that the UK, not the people, but the government, is not welcoming to students from abroad. It causes us problems in terms of attracting students in and also causes us problems in attracting qualified medical staff,” he said. “When we offer places to students to come to study in Wales, we want to them to stay, to set up businesses, to employ people. If they can't do that here, what they can do in other countries, they will go to other countries and that's not in the UK's interest.”

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