Canada's Harper optimistic that U.S. will approve Keystone project

BANGALORE, India Nov 8 (Reuters) - Canada is optimistic the United States will approve TransCanada Corp's controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Thursday.

Speaking during a visit to India, Harper said a majority of U.S. companies and unions favoured the Keystone project. President Barack Obama said in January he would postpone a decision until 2013 on whether to approve the project, which has drawn fire from environmentalists.

Harper also said Canada had contingency plans to deal with the economic fallout if the United States were to go over the so-called fiscal cliff, which refers to a package of spending cuts and tax increases due to take effect in 2013.