VZCZCXRO1817
RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #1405/01 1441115
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231115Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1852
INFO RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 2943
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2240
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 4427
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 2049
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 4862
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 4931
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC
RHMFIUU/FAA NATIONAL HQ WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001405 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/OSA/LDROKER/ASTERN/KRUDD 
DEPT OF ENERGY FOR A/S KHARBERT, TCUTLER, CZAMUDA, RLUHAR 
DEPT PASS TO USTR CLILIENFELD/AADLER 
DEPT PASS TO TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF SOUTH ASIA ABAUKOL 
TREASURY PASS TO FRB SAN FRANCISCO/TERESA CURRAN 
STATE FOR SCA/INS AND EB/TRA JEFFREY HORWITZ AND TOM ENGLE 
USDA PASS FAS/OCRA/RADLER/BEAN/CARVER/RIKER 
EEB/CIP DAS GROSS, FSAEED, MSELINGER 
USTR FOR CATHERINE HINCKLEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR EFIN EINV EPET ETRD SENV IN ECPS BEXP
SUBJECT: NEW DELHI WEEKLY ECON OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 
19-23, 2008 
REF: NEW DELHI 1354 
 
NEW DELHI 00001405  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Below is a compilation of Economic highlights from Embassy 
New Delhi for the week of May 19-23, 2008, including the following 
items: 
 
-- CUBAN TRADE DELEGATION IN INDIA 
-- RUPEE'S RECENT DEPRECIATION 
-- INTERNET NETIZENS IN INDIA 
 
CUBAN TRADE DELEGATION IN INDIA 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Cuban Ambassador to India Miguel Angel Ramirez Ramos told 
media in Delhi that a 19-member Cuban delegation that arrived in 
India on May 17 hopes to revive bilateral trade ties which slumped 
after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.  The delegation, led 
by Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Eduardo Escandel Amador, will be in 
India for 12 days.  Ramos gave his views on why trade with India 
went down and why it could be revived to previous levels.  According 
to him, in the 1980s, bilateral relations were strong, with annual 
bilateral trade touching USD 300 million.  But the 1990s saw the 
demise of the Soviet Union, economic crisis in Cuba, and a 'change 
of policy' in India.  In addition, Cuba had outstanding debt owed to 
India, which has now been cancelled.  "India has good quality 
products and there will be a lot of opportunities, now that all 
issues have been solved," said Ramos.  At present, Cuba imports 
products worth USD 3 billion from China. "If we bought 10 per cent 
of that from India, trade [would] again touch USD 300 million. It is 
not difficult for bilateral trade ties to grow dramatically though 
we will have to work hard at that."  Among the products on the Cuban 
shopping list are chemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy saving devices, 
tires, auto spare parts, and engines.  In addition, according to 
press, in the energy sector Cuba has allocated two offshore blocks 
to ONGC Videsh in the Gulf of Mexico and three elsewhere in joint 
ventures.  Cuba also raised the Indian rice export ban, stating that 
"in [the] future, we would like to see India exporting rice. We hope 
the ban on exports would not be a permanent situation." 
 
RUPEE'S RECENT DEPRECIATION 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) The rupee this week fell to the lowest level in more than 13 
months (hovering at INR 43.10/1 USD on May 22), the lowest since 
April 12, 2007 (reftel).  After appreciating 12.3 percent in 2007, 
the rupee has depreciated about 9 percent in 2008 year to date.  The 
fall in the rupee can be attributed to dollar purchases by Indian 
oil marketing companies to buy crude oil from the overseas market, a 
slowdown in capital inflows, and unwinding of positions that were 
betting on rupee appreciation to check the rising inflation.  A 
surging fuel import bill, continued strength in domestic investment, 
and expectations of moderate export growth suggest the current 
account deficit could worsen to slightly more than 2 percent of GDP 
this year.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not yet intervened 
in the foreign exchange market to reverse the rupee's fall against 
the dollar.  Banking analysts opine that the rupee is likely to 
weaken to INR 43.5-44/1 USD in the short-term due to high oil prices 
and current financial uncertainties reducing emerging market 
inflows; although most think the rupee will eventually return to a 
strengthening mode later in the year. 
 
INTERNET NETIZENS IN INDIA 
-------------------------- 
¶4. (U) An offline survey conducted by advisory firm JuxtConsult's on 
over 12,500 households across 40 cities and 160 villages indicates 
that currently there are 49 million Internet users in India compared 
to 30 million users in 2007. Urban users account for 40 million, 
while rural net users total 9 million. The survey shows that 
internet penetration as a percent of population in urban India is at 
12 percent, while rural penetration stands at 4.5 percent. Women 
 
NEW DELHI 00001405  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
account for less than a fifth, just 17.6 percent of the total 49 
million netizens. Over half of all net users (51 percent) work for 
the corporate sector.  South India contributes the largest share of 
Internet users at 33 percent, while East India is under-represented 
at just 15 percent. 
¶5. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov/p/sa/newdelhi 
 
MULFORD