The ethanol blended with petrol needs to be of 99.99 per cent purity.
Higher price will lead to hike in fertiliser subsidy while a lower price will hit returns.
A ministerial group is mulling a proposal to increase the troubled Dabhol power plant's capacity to 5,000 Mw from the present 2,184 Mw to ensure its long-term viability.
Hazra, the director of Hindustan Aegis LPG Bottling, said that the government's stance was discouraging the multinationals from making further investments.
The government-owned Fortune 500 company, which is the country's largest company in terms of sales, has already commissioned 1,180 Kisan Sewa Kendras.
The laying of gas pipeline to feed the 2,150-Mw Dabhol power plant owned by Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Ltd has been delayed again.
The petroleum ministry has recommended a hike in the foreign direct investment cap in government-owned refineries to 49 per cent from the current 26 per cent.
Interest from Malaysia's Petronas in Cairn India and Swiss Petroplus in Cairn India's parent, Cairn Energy, saw the shares of both the companies gaining on the bourses.
Essar Energy Holdings, a part of the Essar group, has acquired an oil and gas exploration block in Nigeria in the latest round of bidding. The shallow offshore block is completely owned by Essar Energy.
However, with the country forecast to become the fifth largest consumer in the next 20 years, analysts are positive that the percentage of deals in the country will increase substantially.
Supply of the much-needed gas to Dabhol is set to be delayed again. The reason: shortage of pipes required to build the Dahej-Uran pipeline which will feed the gas to the plant.
The rising rupee over the last three months has brought cheer to the oil marketing companies, who have together added around Rs 250-300 crore (Rs 2.5-3 billion) to their operating profits already.
In a bid to attract "big oil" to India, the government is close to finalising an Open Acreage Licensing Policy, which gives companies a round-the-year window to pitch for oil and gas in blocks of their choice.
The petroleum ministry has projected a strong year for the oil marketing companies though the largest exploration company, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, is projected to post a moderate gain in its bottomline.
Maharashtra will get some respite from its power crises next week
The quantum of hike had not yet been worked out, but it was likely to be Rs 2 a litre for petrol and Re 1 a litre for diesel.
The proposal to hive off the LNG terminal at the revived Dabhol power plant in Maharashtra is likely to be scrapped, with promoters and financiers agreeing to pump in Rs 24 billion to restart construction work at the plant.
The shares of oil marketing companies have been firming up in the current financial year though the Indian crude oil basket is quoting above $65 a barrel, as investors took long-term.
In all, Reliance has a stake in 34 exploration blocks in the country.
With the price of gas from its fields in the Krishna-Godavari basin expected to be higher than rivals, Reliance Industries is targeting automobiles and domestic users because power and fertiliser plants may not be able to afford it.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances