Kamal Nath to represent India at 7th ASEAN-India Summit

September 1st, 2009 LONDON - National highways in India will be renumbered so that they reflect a scientific pattern, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said here Tuesday. Today is the 100th day of my government in India, so I can announce it: we are renumbering our national highways, Kamal Nath told reporters.

August 18th, 2009 LONDON - Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath brings his 'roadshow' to Britain Sep 1 to attract British investment into India, which he says will build more roads than any other country over the next two years. Kamal Nath will spend two days in London Sep 1-2 talking to business leaders, bankers and investors, telling them there is money to be made investing in India's roads in the current financial climate.

August 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath said on Friday that the country has enough foodgrain reserves even in the worst monsoon situation. Nath, however, expressed his concern over the adverse impact of poor monsoon on agricultural activity.

July 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Funding will not be a problem as India gets ready to execute over 150 projects worth some $70 billion to spruce up its network of highways and roads in the next three years, said Road, Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath here Wednesday. The minister, who is personally overseeing all road shows to attract money for one of the country's largest public-private initiatives on roads and highways, said speedy development of this infrastructure was a priority for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

July 4th, 2009 LONDON - British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson says former commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath was a great negotiator but wouldn't budge on opening up the Indian market. In his first public comments since the formation of the new Indian government in May, Mandelson said Friday that negotiating with major economies such as India in world trade talks was one of his main mandates as the European Union's Trade Commissioner.

May 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress leader Kamal Nath unwittingly injected humour into the sombre swearing-in ceremony of the new government Friday when he began to take his oath before President Pratibha Patil could prompt him, and then started walking off without signing the register. Perhaps a little too eager to be sworn in as minister, Kamal Nath walked up and said in Hindi 'Main Kamal Nath' much to the amusement of the gathering at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

April 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The India-ASEAN summit scheduled for Saturday has been delayed following anti-government demonstrations in Thailand. The protestors reportedly broke into the venue of the resort in Pattaya, where leaders of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) were due to meet.

April 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Ahead of the ASEAN and an East Asia summit, India Thursday underlined the need for developing regional synergies to deal with the global financial crisis of 'unprecedented dimensions'. Commerce Minister Kamal Nath will represent India at the its summit meeting with 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to be held at Pattaya in Thailand Saturday.

February 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has rationalised the foreign investment norms as there is a tightening in the global markets, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said here Thursday. 'Government has rationalised calculation of FDI (foreign direct investment).

February 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has rationalised the foreign investment norms as there is a tightening in the global markets, but the cap on such investments in single-brand retail would continue, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said here Thursday. 'The government has rationalised calculation of FDI (foreign direct investment).

February 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Interest rates for the Indian corporate sector were still 'very high' and must be reduced, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said here Tuesday. 'This is under the domain of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) but my own view is that interest rates are very high and the interest rate should be reduced,' Kamal Nath told reporters ahead of the interim budget Feb 16.

February 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India will clock a growth of over 7 percent this fiscal, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said here Tuesday. Referring to the general belief that the economic growth would slow down considerably, Kamal Nath said at an awards function organised by the Export Promotion Council: 'The gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by over 7 percent.' Incidentally, India's central bank itself has revised downwards its growth forecast to 7 percent from 7.5-8 percent predicted earlier.

January 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A 'disciplined' private sector and an 'aspiring' middle class are the engines of India's economic growth, and will help the country weather the tumultuous times, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said Saturday. 'India's aspiring middle class has demonstrated surprising resilience in counterbalancing the global credit crisis and slump in the global export economy of which India is a key player,' the minister said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

January 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Maintaining that India will grow by at least 7 percent this fiscal, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath Monday said the government was considering another stimulus package to pump prime the economy. Addressing the 'Partnership Summit 2009' of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, the minister said the falling inflation rate, now at a little over 5 percent, would help unveil another package.

January 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Commerce Minister Kamal Nath continued to maintain that the Rs.70 billion fraud at Satyam Computer Services was a 'one-off delinquency', though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called it a 'blot' on India's corporate image. 'One cannot smear the Indian corporate sector.