The first cargo of 25,000 tonnes of Euro-IV grade diesel from RIL's refinery at Jamnagar was shipped by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd on Friday, said an informed source. This is also the first coastal supply of Euro-IV diesel for the Indian market.
Retail prices of sugar dipped 6 per cent after the government announced a slew of measures on January 13. Prices of grain and pulses have remained unchanged.
New government policy on biofuels may consider financial incentives. Indian Oil Corporation, the country's biggest oil marketing company, is looking to acquire 50,000 hectares of wasteland in Uttar Pradesh for plantation of non-edible oilseeds, such as jatropha and karanjia, that are used for biodiesel production.
Under political pressure, the Centre had to drop a proposal which made the state government pay for the difference between the fair and remunerative price fixed by the Union government, and the state advisory rate.
Industry experts say that even though international companies face problems in setting up new projects on their own, given the problems associated with acquiring land and rehabilitating the displaced people, their keenness to become a part of the growing Indian market remains intact.
The sugar industry is all set to challenge the recent amendment to the Essential Commodities Act, which seeks to introduce a fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane, besides absolving the government of a Rs 14,000-crore levy price obligation arising out of several court rulings.
It not only wants the ministry of petroleum and natural gas to rework the under-recovery figure for the current year but has also decided to look at the issue of oil subsidies only in February 2010, when the next Budget will be announced.
They want more cash, forex, higher bond coupons and increase in market prices for petrol, diesel, LPG.
Financial losses at nearby units in crores, air quality severely affected
A government that limits its role to regulation would be a great enabler for agricultural growth.
Reliance Industries Ltd has decided not to use its allocation of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin's D6 field for petrochemical production; it will, instead, swap it with gas available from other sources. It will use D6 gas only for power generation.
The government may consider a public-private partnership (PPP) mode for setting up national gas highways to ensure distribution across the country.
Putting an end to the fierce scramble for India's iron ore resources, the government has decided to split the Chiria iron ore mines in Jharkhand into two and give at least half the reserves to Steel Authority of India Ltd for its expansion plans. The other half will be kept for development by the private sector later, said informed sources.
The department had earlier also examined the option of a direct equity sale but opted for a PPP model because it offered revenue sharing opportunities, fertiliser secretary Atul Chaturvedi said. Chaturvedi explained that whereas the outright sale of equity will mean the government will have to wait for the plants to make profits to get a share of revenue, the PPP mode will help it do so in the first year.
Government-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd, the country's largest steel producer, is looking to set up two greenfield slag-based cement manufacturing units with a total capacity of 3 million tonnes through a joint venture.
Government-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, the country's largest petro exploration company, wants to hire an ultra deep-sea drill rig, the daily cost of which is about Rs 5 crore.
With production hitting a three-year low of 14.7 million tonnes in this sugar season (October to September), the government is also expected to double the levy quota for the PDS from 10 to 20 per cent to tide over shortages. The levy price and quota act as a notional benchmark for open market sugar prices, which have doubled to Rs 34 to Rs 35 a kg since last September, owing to a global shortage. The price of levy sugar is half that of the open market price.
As Cairn India began to pump crude oil on Monday from its Mangala oilfield here.
RIL's KG basin started pumping gas in April and is currently producing 37-38 mscmd.
Currently, OMCs provide A-I a two-month credit. "There was a request from the committee of secretaries to extend the credit on ATF to three months from the existing two months to help Air India.
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