The working group on food and public distribution constituted under the chairmanship of Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is likely to recommend using the numbers effectively for streamlining PDS.
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.
The government is expected to end the benefits under Section 10A and 10B of the Income Tax Act.
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.
Small and medium information technology companies operating out of the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) and who have not relocated their business operations to the special economic zones (SEZs) could stand to lose a substantial part of their tax holidays after the forthcoming Budget.
This Budget, the finance ministry may consider a proposal for a seed fund that would provide financial support to states willing to sell items other than foodgrain, sugar and kerosene through the public distribution system (PDS). The move, experts believe, will help reigning in food inflation that remains in double digits, despite moderation.
To fund infrastructure projects in the public-private-partnership model, the forthcoming Budget could lay down some broad contours on the setting up of debt funds, which will provide investment for the core sector.
The company is also looking to expand the supply of gas by roads and is evaluating creation of small storage hubs along the highways.
As a bonanza to southern states, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to allocate funds worth Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) for Chennai and Bangalore Metro rail systems in the forthcoming Budget.
Officials said the proposal and funding could be included in the coming budget and preliminary discussions have been held with finance ministry officials.
Indian companies with exposure to Egypt are keeping their fingers crossed as the Arab Republic is faced with a massive unrest.
A series of rises in petrol price following its decontrol on June 25 last year has increased the state governments' earnings from value added tax on petrol by around 21 per cent.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has opposed the proposal of a new pipeline from Kakinada to Srikakulam floated by Andhra Pradesh Gas Infrastructure Corporation (APGIC). RIL has argued that gas availability for the pipeline is uncertain and will not contribute to the development of a national gas grid.
Despite raising petrol prices by around Rs 2.95 a litre - the second-biggest increase in this calendar year so far - public and private retailers are losing Rs 50 crore a day on selling the auto fuel.
Though ONGC and OIL are major producers of natural gas, they currently have no presence in its retailing and marketing, a field dominated by GAIL and its joint ventures.
Ethanol blending with petrol has resumed after more than a year. Last week, sale of blended petrol started in Bangalore, Mathura and parts of Gujarat. While blending will be gradually extended to the other parts of the country, the quantity of ethanol contracted so far is insufficient to continue the programme nationally beyond eight months.
Reliance Industries Ltd's legal battle over the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to impose 21 per cent value-added tax on gas is holding up supply to NTPC's two power plants and Indian Oil Corporation's Mathura refinery, despite a group of ministers making allocation to them.
In what could lead to an overhaul of policy, the Union government is looking at a new sugar subsidy mechanism as part of its decontrol proposal. It plans to rope in state governments for the purchase and distribution of sugar to below-poverty-line consumers at market prices.
After briefly maintaining prices at par with public sector oil marketing companies following the June 25 price hike, private fuel retailers Essar Oil and Reliance Industries are selling petrol and diesel at a premium of Rs 0.50 to 2.50 per litre in some states.
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