ONGC's return on investment becomes positive after govt makes Barmer block royalty cost-recoverable.
In a move that will give the better and cleaner environment agenda a boost, the reach of Euro-IV fuel (diesel and petrol) will be expanded to seven more cities in the current financial year. This less polluting fuel was launched about a year ago in 13 cities.
The decision was taken at a meeting last month chaired by additional secretary Sudhir Bhargava and attended by representatives of GAIL and the three OMCs - Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum.
Getting compensated for at least 90 per cent of losses without government subsidy appears difficult.
The government indecisiveness on petroleum price rise, coupled with late release of cash subsidy, has sent the borrowings of three government-controlled oil marketing companies to an all-time high of around Rs 118,000 crore (Rs 1,180 billion).
The company has begun discussions with foreign players besides Petronet LNG Ltd for jointly developing the Rs 4,500-crore (Rs 45-billion) terminal.
With the finance ministry facing the risk of missing its tax collection target this year, it has turned down a proposal to reduce duties on petroleum products to reduce the impact of rising crude prices on profitability of oil companies.
When Modi Rubber closed an agreement with German tyre manufacturer Continental for outright sale of Modi Tyre Company Ltd (MTCL) last month, the exit led to speculation of the group foregoing interests in the segment.
The draft report of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament is understood to have asked the UPA government to quantify the loss to the exchequer from the 2G scam and recover it from companies that benefited from this.
The report, submitted to the government last week, says the slow pace of field development is the reason production has fallen to 50 million standard cubic metres a day (mscmd) from a peak of 60 mscmd last year.
ONGC went for a stock split in preparation for a follow-on issue that is expected to hit the market in the second quarter of 2011-12.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), the operator of the KG-D6 gas block, has told the government it cannot comply with its latest directive on prioritising gas supply.
New players in the organised branded garment retail industry such as Koutons and Cantabil along with a host of other brands are going through a tough time, thanks to the rapid expansion via debt and their deep discounting model.
It plans to invest Rs. 10,000 crore to set up a power generation capacity of 2,500 Mw near Pune.
With RIL's KG-D6 output playing truant, steps need to be taken to stabilise the country's natural gas production.
The government will reserve the right to decide on the cost recoverability of royalty from Cairn India's block in Barmer while clearing Cairn Energy's sale of its Indian subsidiary to Vedanta Resources.
There was a time when gas was offered to India at a cheaper price but we could not close those deals.
After prospects of a higher subsidy outgo on food and fertilisers, the government is faced with the spectre of a higher petroleum subsidy. Rising crude oil prices and its inability to increase fuel prices is all set to spoil the government's subsidy calculations. The country meets 80 per cent of its crude oil demand through imports.
The company is also looking to expand the supply of gas by roads and is evaluating creation of small storage hubs along the highways.
Indian companies with exposure to Egypt are keeping their fingers crossed as the Arab Republic is faced with a massive unrest.