March 7 th

Ukraine crisis worries India

India called for elections and a dialogue between Ukraine and other countries involved in the crisis
there but left unstated New Delhis concern over Kievs control of its military industrial complex,
with which India has developed close ties
!f immediate concern is the fate of some military e"uipment factories from where India is getting
its entire fleet of medium military transport aircraft modernised #nother Ukrainian military facility
provides engines for military helicopters of $ussian origin, which account for a "uarter of the
worlds medium, medium%heavy and heavy lift helicopters India also has contracts for sourcing
naval engines
India had managed to strike deals with these companies as an alternative to $ussia It has in the past
managed to play off the two countries and get the best possible deal
&he breakthrough came during ousted Ukrainian 'resident (iktor )ankovich*s visit to India in
December +,-+ with the signing of a defence cooperation agreement It is a sign of Ukraine*s
importance to India*s military modernisation that the Indian embassy in Kiev has two military
officers of .irst /ecretary rank and one of /econd /ecretary rank
&he visit led to the doubling of imports in the past two years with expectations of a further 0ump if
the new political dispensation remained as favourable as 1r )ankovich and control some of these
military%industrial complexes
Ukraine crisis to boost Indias maize exports
2eo%political tensions arising out of problems Ukraine is facing after a political upheaval are seen
fuelling demand for Indian mai3e 4corn5 6ith exports picking up in recent weeks after a rather
muted start to shipments in the current marketing year starting /eptember, demand prospects look
good
&he trade is hopeful that mai3e shipments will exceed initial estimates of three million tonnes on
renewed interest from overseas buyers, aided by a price rally India had exported a record 78
million tonnes 4mt5 last year, but shipments this year began on a sluggish note and were seen as
unviable due to weak international prices
96ith the turmoil in Ukraine, corn from the :lack /ea region is facing logistics hurdles, triggering
demand for Indian mai3e ;oncerns over dry weather impacting the crop in the U/, the largest
producer, have also aided the recent price rally, making Indian shipments viable,< an official at a
multinational trading firm said
;orn prices have moved up by about -= per cent from early >anuary this year till now, but the
strengthening rupee could pose a challenge
?owever, overall exports are still expected to be lower than last year at around three million tonnes
&rade sources said exports in 1arch were expected to be about five lakh tonnes, more than twice
the .ebruary shipments that stood at +- lakh tonnes In >anuary, shipments were estimated at -8
lakh tonnes
;hoksi said domestic demand from starch and poultry feed makers has been good and rabi
production will also boost supplies, exerting pressure on prices
#ccording to the #griculture 1inistrys second advance estimates, mai3e production this year is
likely to be +@+8 mt against the final output of +++= mt last year
9In the short term, export prospects look good for Indian mai3e ?owever, in the long term, India
will have to compete with U/, Aatin #merica and Ukraine,< said &e0inder Narang, grains trade
analyst