New Delhi: Emerging energy partnership is a key pillar of India-Canada ties and Ottawa is putting in place the required infrastructure to diversify its export markets with India in mind, Canadian High Commissioner Christopher Cooter told ET.
"During PM Mike Carney's India trip in March, India and Canada agreed on a 62-paragraph joint statement and the largest part of that was around energy. There was also an agreement signed for India to purchase uranium worth $2.6 billion over 10 years. Canada is the second-largest hydro producer, the fourth-largest crude oil producer, the fifth-largest natural gas producer and the fifth-largest LPG producer. Canada, which for decades exported its natural resources to the USA, is now putting in place infrastructure to export its energy resources to India," Cooter said while responding to a query on Canada's energy supplies to India amid strain on West Asian supply chains.
"When the Prime Minister was here, we had very active discussions around LPG. We have two major LPG producers and they are ramping up production. We are also talking to the Ministry of Petroleum here. So it is not too far away. It will probably start in 2027, and then will grow from there."
"If we look at LNG, we are a little behind. We are a big producer, but a small exporter. We are number 14 in the world in LNG exports, but number five in production. Again, most of that export was going to the US. Now we have started building terminals to export to countries beyond the USA and North Asia. We do not want to have all our eggs in one export basket," Cooter pointed out.
The Canadian envoy said that over 90% of Canadian crude oil is currently exported to the USA, but Ottawa is looking to diversify. "As I said, we are the fourth-biggest producer in the world. It is heavy crude, but Indian refineries can handle it."
Asked about the pace of the proposed trade deal, Cooter noted, "India trade is still quite modest. If you look at goods trade, we export only about $5 billion worth of goods. We are the largest producer of potash and would like to export more to India. We also produce other sources of fertiliser. So it should be possible to double, maybe even more than double, at least our goods trade. The other major component of our relationship is around students. Since the PM's visit, I have spent considerable time acquainting myself with our infrastructural bottlenecks and where we are headed. I am quite encouraged by the prospects for Canadian exports."
The veteran diplomat also referred to the growing presence of Canadian pension funds in India. "Canadians have a lot of capital pooled up. That is why our pension funds are active here. We have several trillion dollars in assets, and here in India we already have investments worth around $110 billion. I am sure all the pension plans will be increasing that significantly."
Canada also plans to supply critical minerals and lumber to India, given its abundant reserves.
The envoy also highlighted the strong people-to-people ties through students. "We have 400,000 Indian students in Canada, which is greater than the total number of Indian students in Europe, the UK and Australia put together, and it is higher than the US."
"During PM Mike Carney's India trip in March, India and Canada agreed on a 62-paragraph joint statement and the largest part of that was around energy. There was also an agreement signed for India to purchase uranium worth $2.6 billion over 10 years. Canada is the second-largest hydro producer, the fourth-largest crude oil producer, the fifth-largest natural gas producer and the fifth-largest LPG producer. Canada, which for decades exported its natural resources to the USA, is now putting in place infrastructure to export its energy resources to India," Cooter said while responding to a query on Canada's energy supplies to India amid strain on West Asian supply chains.
"When the Prime Minister was here, we had very active discussions around LPG. We have two major LPG producers and they are ramping up production. We are also talking to the Ministry of Petroleum here. So it is not too far away. It will probably start in 2027, and then will grow from there."
"If we look at LNG, we are a little behind. We are a big producer, but a small exporter. We are number 14 in the world in LNG exports, but number five in production. Again, most of that export was going to the US. Now we have started building terminals to export to countries beyond the USA and North Asia. We do not want to have all our eggs in one export basket," Cooter pointed out.
The Canadian envoy said that over 90% of Canadian crude oil is currently exported to the USA, but Ottawa is looking to diversify. "As I said, we are the fourth-biggest producer in the world. It is heavy crude, but Indian refineries can handle it."
Asked about the pace of the proposed trade deal, Cooter noted, "India trade is still quite modest. If you look at goods trade, we export only about $5 billion worth of goods. We are the largest producer of potash and would like to export more to India. We also produce other sources of fertiliser. So it should be possible to double, maybe even more than double, at least our goods trade. The other major component of our relationship is around students. Since the PM's visit, I have spent considerable time acquainting myself with our infrastructural bottlenecks and where we are headed. I am quite encouraged by the prospects for Canadian exports."
The veteran diplomat also referred to the growing presence of Canadian pension funds in India. "Canadians have a lot of capital pooled up. That is why our pension funds are active here. We have several trillion dollars in assets, and here in India we already have investments worth around $110 billion. I am sure all the pension plans will be increasing that significantly."
Canada also plans to supply critical minerals and lumber to India, given its abundant reserves.
The envoy also highlighted the strong people-to-people ties through students. "We have 400,000 Indian students in Canada, which is greater than the total number of Indian students in Europe, the UK and Australia put together, and it is higher than the US."
