The government on Wednesday ruled out privatisation of Indian Oil, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Gas Authority of India Ltd and assured all security concerns would be taken care of while divesting public sector oil
Along with the opposition, key BJP allies Shiv Sena and Samata Party also slammed Divestment Minister Arun Shourie for going ahead with the strategic sale of the equity of the two public sector oil giants.
Along with the opposition, key BJP allies Shiv Sena and Samata Party also slammed Divestment Minister Arun Shourie for going ahead with the strategic sale of the equity of the two public sector oil giants.
Kicking off the divestment process in the two public sector oil companies, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation, the government
The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition challenging the government's decision to divest equity in the oil public sector units HPCL and BPCL as the findings of the Supreme Court relating to privatisation of Balco came in its way.
SBI Capital Markets Limited, the merchant banking arm of SBI, is eyeing the twin accounts of HPCL and BPCL for managing the divestment programmes of the 2 oil cos.
India's minister for privatisation on Friday said a much-awaited stake sale in state-run refiners Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited could go ahead as soon as the prime minister gave his approval.
Divesment Minister Arun Shourie said on Tuesday he had apprised Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee about the Attorney General Soli Sorabjee's opinion on privatisation of HPCL, BPCL.
The attorney-general is understood to have said that the government need not go to Parliament prior to privatisation of the oil PSUs.
Faulty laws helped oil majors IOC, HPCL and BPCL -- to avoid excise payment of Rs 713 crore (Rs 7.13 billion) to the government during April-December 2002, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said.
Attorney General Soli Sorabjee is likely to give by Friday his opinion on legal aspects of divestment of oil PSUs HPCL and BPCL, which were nationalised through Acts of Parliament.
The Cabinet Committee on Divestment failed to take any decision on the divestment of public sector oil companies -- Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation.
Arun Shourie, Union Minister for Divestment, said that the next meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Divestment would discuss the sell-off modalities of HPCL and BPCL.
Labour unions on Monday threatened to go on a lightning strike the day government invited bids for privatising highly profitable oil public sector units HPCL and BPCL.\n\n\n\n
Bowing to pressure from the opposition, Divestment Minister Arun Shourie on Tuesday assured the Rajya Sabha that he would seek an opinion from Attorney General Soli Sorabjee on the legality of the sell-off of HPCL and BPCL.
Contrary to popular perception of public sector oil firms making huge profits on selling petrol and diesel by gold plating the cost, Indian firms have second lowest refinery and marketing margins - profits - in the world.
State-run oil marketing companies on Monday raised the security deposit for new cooking gas (LPG) connections to Rs 1,250 from the existing Rs 850 per cylinder, as also the price of cylinder regulator due to increase in input costs.
The divestment ministry would concentrate on "legal option" to resolve the divestment impasse arising out of the Supreme Court verdict on HPCL and BPCL, but would continue with residual stake sale plans in companies like CMC Ltd and VSNL.
IndianOil Corp Ltd, for instance, saw a growth of around 22 per cent in volumes and nearly two per cent in its market share. It traded nearly 10,517 million tonnes (mt) of auto gas in December against 8,593 mt of auto gas in September.
Sri Lanka on Monday put off indefinitely a decision to sell off part of the state-run oil company to Bharat Petroleum as trade unions threatened to stop work, triggering panic buying at petrol stations across the country.
India's only private sector oil refiner, Reliance Industries, has sought a two-year extension of its agreement with Indian Oil Corp to sell Jamnagar refinery products through the state-run firm's retail network.
In 12 hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 6.55 per litre and diesel by Rs 7.04 a litre.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Monday said last week's Supreme Court ruling halting the privatisation of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd was a "setback", but hoped that a solution will emerge soon.
The cut reflects changes in global prices of the two fuels since the last revision.
In all, petrol price has gone up by Rs 1.74 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.78 a litre in three days.
Petrol and diesel price soared to an all-time high across the country on Friday after rates were hiked again by 25 paise and 30 paise a litre, respectively. The price of petrol in Delhi rose it its highest ever level of Rs 101.89 a litre and to Rs 107.95 in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. Diesel rates too touched a record high of Rs 90.17 in Delhi and Rs 97.84 in Mumbai.
M A Pathan, former chairman of the Indian Oil Corporation, on Friday resigned as chief of the Petroleum Federation of India, citing his pre-occupation with Tatas and other multinational oil firms.
Many residents complained of suspected gas leak from Chembur, Ghatkopar, Powai and Vikhroli areas late on Saturday night, an official of the BMC's disaster management cell said.
The official, who did not wish to be identified, said the government will wrap up the stake sale in HPCL by November.\n\n
The multinational oil firm, however, is required to furnish a Rs 500 crore bank guarantee to the government.
