Friendlier government policies, greater demand and better supply of coal have fuelled investor interest.
Those for power sector to see tussle between prior owners & new challengers
On the back of rising crude oil purchases, India's bill for imports from sanctions-hit Russia jumped 3.5 times in a year in April to $2.3 billion, showed data from the commerce ministry. In April, India's crude oil imports from Russia were valued at $1.3 billion, 57 per cent of India's total inbound shipments from Russia. Other major imported items during the month included coal, soybean and sunflower oil, fertilisers, and non-industrial diamonds. That month, Russia was also the fourth-largest crude petroleum supplier to India, after Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
India's merchandise exports in November rose by 26.49 per cent to $29.88 billion on account of healthy growth in sectors such as engineering, petroleum, chemicals and marine products, according to provisional data released by the government on Wednesday. The exports stood at $23.62 billion in November 2020. Imports in November were at $53.15 billion, an increase of 57.18 per cent over $33.81 billion in the same month of 2020, leaving a trade deficit of $23.27 billion.
Petrol and diesel prices, which have been on a freeze for the past four months in view of assembly elections in states like Uttar Pradesh, need to be increased by over Rs 12 per litre by March 16 for fuel retailers to break even. International crude oil prices shot above $120 a barrel for the first time in nine years on Thursday before retreating a little to $111 on Friday, but the gulf between cost and retail rates has only widened. With international oil prices - on which domestic fuel retails are directly benchmarked - spiking in the last two months, state-owned fuel retailers "need a massive price hike of Rs 12.1 per litre on or before March 16, 2022, just to breakeven and a price hike of Rs 15.1 is required" after including margins for oil firms, ICICI Securities said in a report.
JSPL is under CBI lens for giving wrong information about its land, water supply and previous allocations to get coal block in Jan 2008.
The output of eight core infrastructure sectors contracted for the third month in a row by 1.3 per cent in December 2020, dragged down by poor show by crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel and cement sectors. The core sectors had expanded by 3.1 per cent in December 2019, according to the provisional data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Friday. Barring coal and electricity, all sectors recorded negative growth in December 2020. During April-December 2020-21, the sectors' output declined by 10.1 per cent against a growth rate of 0.6 per cent in the same period of the previous year.
The strike notices were given by workers' unions of various sectors such as coal, steel, oil, telecom, postal, income tax, copper, banks and insurance.
According to a commerce and industry ministry statement, the growth rate for these eight key sectors for April 2019 has been revised upward to 6.3 per cent from 2.6 per cent reported earlier mainly due to upward revisions in production of coal, crude oil, steel, cement and electricity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to open commercial coal mining to private players is a key step towards bringing order to the country's chaotic power industry and ending the chronic blackouts that impede its economic rise.
Contracting for the ninth consecutive month, the output of eight core infrastructure sectors dropped by 2.6 per cent in November, mainly due to decline in production of natural gas, refinery products, steel and cement. The production of eight core sectors had recorded a growth of 0.7 per cent in November 2019, data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed on Thursday. Barring coal, fertiliser and electricity, all sectors -- crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel and cement -- recorded negative growth in November 2020.
India's merchandise exports jumped 27.16 per cent to $30.04 billion in November on the back of good performance by sectors like petroleum products, engineering goods and electronic items, official data showed on Tuesday. The exports stood at $23.62 billion in November 2020. Imports in November were at $52.94 billion, showing an increase of 56.58 per cent over inbound shipments of $33.81 billion in the year-ago month.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inducting four new faces from Karnataka into his ministry, and chemicals and fertilisers minister D V Sadanda Gowda resigning ahead of the reshuffle, the state's representation in the Union council of ministers now stands at six.
The shift to gross calorific value-based grading of coal aligned domestic prices with international benchmarks.
The output of eight core sectors grew by 16.8 per cent in May, mainly due to a low base effect and uptick in production of natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity, official data released on Wednesday showed. The eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had contracted by 21.4 per cent in May 2020 due to the lockdown restrictions imposed to control the spread of the COVID-19 infections. In March this year, these key sectors had recorded a growth of 11.4 per cent, and 60.9 per cent in April.
Petrol and diesel prices are likely to be hiked this week as oil companies prepare to pare losses accumulated from keeping rates steady for over four months in the run-up to assembly elections in five states, including UP, despite international oil prices jumping to a 13-year high of $140 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US oil benchmark, rose to $130.50 per barrel on Sunday evening, its highest since July 2008, before retreating. The international benchmark, Brent crude, hit a high of $139.13 at one point overnight, also its highest since July 2008.
Production of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity contracted. The record contraction in the growth rate of eight core sectors will affect the Index of Industrial Production.
Petrol and diesel price hikes are likely to resume after state elections get over next week to bridge the Rs 9 a litre gap created by international oil prices soaring past $100 a barrel. International crude oil prices shot above $110 a barrel for the first time since mid-2014 on fears that oil and gas supplies from energy giant Russia could be disrupted, either by the conflict in Ukraine or retaliatory western sanctions. The basket of crude oil India buys rose above $102 per barrel on March 1, the highest since August 2014, according to information from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry.
A second wave of Covid driven by the Delta variant engulfed the country in May-June bringing the health system to its knees and leaving people gasping for help.
The top gainers on the Sensex are Gail(India), HDFC, Infosys.
Dual methodology for e-auction to introduce price ceiling for power sector
Even as Union ministers allay misgivings over Agnipath, figures show a meagre 2.4 per cent of the ex-servicemen who applied for a government job could get one as the Centre and the states have been unable to recruit against the reserved quotas. Public sector undertakings (PSUs), ministries, and officials of Sainik Boards have blamed it on the lack of skill among ex-servicemen. They say veterans' inability to qualify in selection exams is one of reasons for this. Also, non-recognition of qualifications obtained from the military are reasons why their recruitment has remained significantly low, pushing them towards low-skill jobs.
The team also visited Tizit Police Station to meet the cross section of the society including civilians, police personnel and doctors who treated the injured for obtaining valuable information, he said.
Coal, crude oil, natural gas, cement, and electricity recorded a negative growth of 8.6 per cent, 5.4 per cent , 3.9 per cent, 4.9 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively, in August.
The company signed a JV agreement with Coal India to set up 5000 Mw of solar and thermal projects. These projects are expected to commence between 2023 and 2027.
Rather than talking endlessly about lost and marginal opportunities, India's climate envoys need to start thinking bigger, says Mihir S Sharma.
On January 1, Anil Sinha, the new Director of the Central Investigation Bureau, gave a 40-minute "inspirational" speech to all his officials, setting the direction for the next two years of his tenure.
Since January this year, Indian exporters have begun to dread the shipping news. That's because most of it would be about another lot of shipping companies deciding to avoid Indian ports on account of delays.
The output of eight core infrastructure sectors grew marginally by 0.1 per cent in January, mainly due to growth in the production of fertiliser, steel and electricity. The core sectors had expanded by 2.2 per cent in January 2020, according to the provisional data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Friday. Coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, and cement recorded negative growth in January.
Fitch Solutions on Thursday said the new climate targets announced at the COP26 summit by Prime minister Narendra Modi pose an upside risk to its outlook for renewable growth in the country. With the new targets, it expected to see attempts to alleviate the issues regarding supply chains, manufacturing and project development that have long plagued renewable proliferation.
According to the commerce and industry ministry data, during April-February 2018-19, the eight sectors recorded a flat growth rate of 4.3 per cent over the same period previous fiscal.
Coal, natural gas, refinery products and cement grew by 16 per cent, 7 .4 per cent, 2.7 per cent, and 16 .6 per cent in April this year, respectively.
Dr Manmohan Singh's role in the sordid saga of the Coal Allocation Scam was always Delhi's worst-kept secret; calls for his interrogation will mushroom after he was named by P C Parakh, says T V R Shenoy.
The finance ministry on Monday said it will transfer Rs 6,000 crore as the second tranche of GST compensation shortfall to 16 states and 3 Union Territories -- including Maharashtra, Bihar, Assam, Puducherry and Delhi. The Centre had on October 23 transferred Rs 6,000 crore to 16 states and 2 UTs of Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. In the second tranche of transfer, Union Territory of Puducherry has been included.
The guidelines listed several services including government and private offices that will be out of bounds during the period, while exempting establishments such as hospitals, ration shops, dairies, banks, insurance offices, and print and electronic media. Delivery of all essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment through e-commerce has also been exempted from the purview of the lockdown.
Enunciating slew of measures initiated by the UPA to augment the sector, the finance minister said 19 oil and gas blocks were given out for exploration and 7 new airports are under construction.
The finance minister admitted that there was no quick-fixes to economic problems and the government is working to stabilise the economy which may take time.
The banking regulator is seeking an early exit mechanism for private banks under Prompt Corrective Action.
Anil Swarup, who conceived the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana -- a scheme the United Nations Development Programme and the International Labour Organisation recognised as among the finest -- speaks to Anjuli Bhargava.
The central government is devising a mechanism to step up screening imports to protect domestic manufacturers. The details of the online monitoring system may find mention in the foreign trade policy 2021-26, which will kick in next month. The online system will make the data available to the government as well as industry about the countries from where the goods are being imported, and their quantity and quality. The data can help domestic producers analyse the market potential for such goods, said a senior government official. In the past 16 months, the government had implemented a steel- and coal-import monitoring system.
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