Uranium no bar to India deal: Crean

A FREE-TRADE AGREEMENT with India could increase Australia's gross domestic product by $45 billion over the next 20 years, a feasibility study has found.
The Trade Minister, Simon Crean, said he hoped negotiations on a deal would start soon and acknowledged Australia's ban on uranium sales to India was likely to figure in any talks.
"What the FTA does is open up the opportunity to talk about a whole range of issues," Mr Crean said in New Delhi yesterday.

"Comprehensive means comprehensive. We have a policy constraint [with uranium exports to India] but, if we are being serious, people can put on the table what they want and see if we can work through to resolve it."
The Rudd government will not allow the export of uranium to India because New Delhi has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Mr Crean said there had been no change in the government's position and denied that it would stand in the way of a trade deal.
"Our political positions are well known on it and well understood,'' he said. ''We agree to disagree on it but it's not the stumbling block to concluding an FTA. In many senses having an energy chapter in the FTA might facilitate something of a dialogue in that direction. It's another way for them to address the question if they want to do it."
The two-year feasibility study said a free-trade agreement would lead to a substantial increase in the trade of goods and create potential for further trade in services and investment.
Modelling conducted for the study by the Centre for International Economics showed a deal could result in a net increase to Australia's GDP by up to $45.5 billion and India's GDP by up to $48.3 billion over 20 years.
''What the feasibility study highlights is there are benefits to both countries - it can be a win-win outcome," Mr Crean said.
Opinion polling released separately in New Delhi yesterday by the public affairs firm Hawker Britton revealed strong support in Australia for a trade deal with India: 47 per cent of respondents in favour and 28 per cent opposed.
"Interestingly, support for a free-trade agreement with India was just about as the same as support for a free-trade agreement with the United States when we did a similar poll in 2004," said Bruce Hawker, the managing director of Hawker Britton.
Mr Crean said government consultations with Australia businesses also revealed broad support for a trade pact with India.
India is already Australia's fastest-growing major trading partner and its fourth-biggest export market. Two-way trade grew by 55 per cent in 2008-09, reaching nearly $22 billion. Over the past four years two-way trade has grown an average of 25 per cent.