The retail losses that the country's oil marketing companies incur on sale of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene at subsidised prices have risen by 7.3 per cent to around Rs 440 crore (Rs 4.4 billion) per day in the fortnight ended March 31.IOC lost Rs 17 for every litre of petrol it sold, up from Rs 14.65 a litre on March 15. It lost Rs 316 per 14.2-kg cylinder, compared with Rs 303.65 per cylinder in the previous fortnight.
On the first day of the new financial year, there was a sense of dj vu in the power sector. As has been the case for the last many years, the capacity addition during the year, of 9,263 Mw, is a little over half the target of about 17,000 Mw.
The over 1.6 million employees of central public sector companies are demanding a salary increase of over 100 per cent, saying the average 40 per cent raise recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission for government employees is not enough. Salaries of public sector workers were last revised in 1997 and were scheduled for the next revision on January 1, 2007. The average gross monthly salary an ONGC executive earns today is between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000.
In a step towards dual pricing of domestic cooking gas, the government has decided to allow oil-marketing companies to sell the fuel at market prices in distinct fibreglass cylinders. IOC, BPCL and HPCL will sell these cylinders in Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune, which have been identified as test beds for the pilot project. The companies could revise fuel prices for transparent cylinders as LPG for them will not be subsidised. Feasibility of this project is yet to be adjudged.
Labayendu Mansingh, Chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, is an amicable yet tough man. In his 5 months as the petroleum & natural gas regulator, Mansingh announced to the oil & gas industry his intention of proving that the regulatory board is more than a toothless tiger. The board will come out with its first set of regulations, which will lay down rules for the distribution of gas to households, vehicles & industries in cities by middle of this month.
The finance ministry, in the explanatory memorandum to the Finance Bill 2008-09, proposes to withdraw the tax holiday which has been a window the petroleum ministry has been using to market the oil and gas exploration blocks under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (Nelp) since 1999. The commitment to give a 7-year tax holiday to companies producing gas from Nelp blocks was finalised by the Union Cabinet after consultation with the finance ministry.
The positive impact of the February 14 hike in petrol and diesal prices on oil marketing companies has been negated in just a fortnight with daily retail losses of these companies going back to over Rs 410 crore (Rs 4.1 billion) for the fortnight ended February 29. This is due to the steep rise in global crude prices in recent days. The retail prices were hiked by Rs 2 per litre for petrol and Re 1per litre for diesel.
Gurgaon, the erstwhile model city, is facing heavy power and infrastructure crisis. Governance and management delays are having their effect on the city's productivity and living.
LPG demand this fiscal is expected to be around 11 million tonne, against around 10.2 million tonne last year. It is the subsidised price of LPG, which is available at around Rs 21 per kg for domestic use. LPG for industries, which is outside price control, is sold at around Rs 58 per kg, up from around Rs 36 per kg last year.
The revamping will start with its assets in Assam. The company will soon float tenders worth Rs 2,500 crore, a senior company executive said. ONGC has three fields in Assam - Rudrasagar, Lakwa and Geleki. The Rudrasagar field is almost 40 years old.
Petroleum Ministry is considering cutting down the number of independent directors on board in an oil PSU to 33%.
Iran's proposal to transform the $7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project to an Iran-Pakistan-China (IPC) project is nothing more than an "empty threat", according to Indian officials, who say the move is fraught with technical and financial challenges.
Kakinada is fast turning from a rice growing area to a buzzing town, thanks to Reliance's gas terminal.
Tata Power, GMR Energy and GVK Power are eyeing the capital's Rs 175-cr first waste-to-energy project.
India Inc is looking at the public sector to steer its ambitions, as former PSU heads are taken on board to lead the private sector.
ONGC is close to finalising a stake sale in two of its blocks -- one in the Krishna-Godavari basin and another in the Mahanadi basin -- to British Gas. It is also talking to US-based Noble Energy for offering it stake in some of its blocks in India. ONGC has already agreed to give a stake to Brazilian company Petrobras, Norwegian company Norskhydro and Italy-based ENI in its countrywide blocks.
Company in talks with Reliance Capital, Apollo Pharmacy to offer new services at outlets.
The proposed price increase, the first in 18 months, is likely to be in the range of Rs 2 per litre for petrol and Re 1 per litre for diesel, senior petroleum ministry officials said.
Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum to open over 3,000 outlets this year. Even losses of over Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) per day from selling automobile fuels have not stopped government-owned oil marketing companies from expanding their retail network across the country.
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