Amid the ongoing debate on the role of lobbyists in India, leading industry chamber CII on Sunday said its functioning is different from that of a deal maker and there was no need to follow the US for licensed lobbying in the country.
“We are not lobbyists, we are advocates... (We) help build policy framework and perform advocacy work,” CII’s newly elected president, Mr Hari S. Bhartia, said.
Earlier, another industry chamber, FICCI, had exp-ressed similar views, saying there was no need for leg-alised system of lobbying in the country on the lines of the US.
On whether the government should introduce legalised-lobbying, he said: “We don’t need anything like license for lobbying. We work with the government very closely. We are partners.”
On this issue, the Ficci president, Mr Rajan Mittal, had said that, “The government’s job is to be a facilitator; that’s what they should do and if they they do that there is no room for any lobbyist... If you (government) open avenues, remove obstacles and roadblocks, why should you have a lobbyist?”
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RIL, Russia co to produce butyl rubber
Age Correspondent
Mumbai
Private sector oil & gas major Reliance Industries has entered into an agreement with a Russian chemical firm to
produce high value chemicals.
Under the agreement, Sibur, the Russian firm, will provide the technical knowhow to produce butyl rubber — which is used to make tyres.
Processed chemical products such as rubber get a higher price compared to the chemicals produced by an oil refinery.
With 60 million tonnes of refining capacity, RIL has a large raw material supply.
However, analysts point out that the venture will not have a major impact on the company’s earnings.
RIL already produces a form of rubber similar to this but the volume is tiny – in the context of Reliance, says an analyst tracking the firm. Petroleum refining —which is the core business of RIL — has been hit by very low margins globally over the past several quarters.