From Mineweb:

India is a country which faces many of the same problems as China, but is a few years behind in terms of internal growth but, like China, its GDP is growing at an enormous rate in comparison with the West, where economies are, at best, static for the moment.

To fuel this growth India too needs access to major mineral resources - metals, minerals, oil and gas - but has been much slower than China in doing the deals which can guarantee future supplies in a competitive environment, and at a time when there are doubts about the medium to long term availability of many strategically important metals and minerals.

Thus the Indian government is reportedly moving to fast track deals to secure future supplies for its ever-growing industrial base. According to a report in today's Hindustan Times The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has decided that the country's state-owned corporations need to be supported in aggressively pursuing the acquisition of strategic mineral resources through a dedicated fund - and it has set a 30-day deadline for such plans to be in place.

According to Hindustan Times, an unnamed senior government official told it "The PMO has asked the Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission to work out the size and structure of the dedicated fund in 30 days."

...The significance of the Indian move should not be underestimated. Indian growth is currently matching that of China and with...

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