Osama Kamal, Egypt’s former Petroleum & Mineral Resources minister, is on an “exploratory” mission to India. He intends to take home technologies in renewable energy, especially in solar, biogas and wind, even as the Arab nation seeks investments from Indian companies across sectors.
“We have plans to make use of your (India’s) experience in renewable energy. We are looking at technology transfer as well as investments,” Kamal, who is in India on an invitation by the Aditya Birla group, told BusinessLine in an interview.
“Egypt is rich in oil and gas resources but using them for producing power is not putting them to their best use. These mineral resources can be better used for producing value-added petrochemical products,” he said.
Oil exploration business is risky for Egyptian companies therefore we want companies from other countries including India to come and invest in Egypt.
Further, Kamal, who was Egypt’s minister of petroleum and mineral resources till May 6, 2013, also wants both countries to co-operate on space missions, especially after India’s resounding success of Mars mission.
Kamal was sworn into President Mohamad Morsi’s cabinet, the Qandil Cabinet, on August 2, 2012, following the 2011-2012 Egyptian uprising that deposed President Hosni Mubarak.
The former minister, who is considered an expert in oil and minerals, is not talking to Indian companies officially, but based on his previous experience and capacity. “We are expecting to see more Indian investments in the Egyptian market, not only in petroleum and energy but also in other businesses,” he said, adding, the country has plans to upgrade or build new refineries with a $20-billion investment.
At present, Indian companies such as Marico, Sanmar, Tata Group and Aditya Birla group have operations in the country, employing about 35,000 Egyptians.
India has to find oil by working upstream, not only in India but other places such as Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Algeria. “This will help it reduce oil import bills…,” Kamal said.
Terming Egypt’s earlier fuel subsidy reform as one of the “hardest” decision he has ever taken in his life, he said that subsidy removal programme is not a good idea for any country.
“It should go from subsidising the commodity to subsidising the people (social security). When you cut subsidy from a product, people automatically move to the alternative product, which means that you are creating pressure on other products”.
India has deregulated diesel prices and the whole process is expected to be completed by November.