At least clear zones where firms have own land, says minister.
Not only does there appear to be no meeting ground on the issue of a pricing formula proposed by the committee, the petroleum ministry wants another committee headed by Vijay Kelkar to look into the other major recommendation of moving to the revenue sharing model in exploration and production.
The finance ministry has rejected the formula and, instead, suggested an alternative that takes into account well-head prices of suppliers in Qatar, Oman, Abu Dhabi and Malaysia.
He also said that it was wrong to suggest that India stopped foreign made vaccines like that made by Moderna and Pfizer from coming to India.
With huge stocks and a possible record output this year, the Centre will soon take a decision whether to allow export of wheat, which was banned in early 2007, Food And Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said here on Thursday
The ban on onion export is temporary and will be reviewed every two weeks until its prices decline below Rs 15 per kg.
If approved, many proposals will have a significant impact on the SEZ policy, which came into force in February 2006. A crucial finance ministry proposal -- to be discussed by the group -- is imposing an export obligation in excess of 50 per cent on developers and units that will be eligible for duty and tax benefits.
A committee of secretaries is already looking into the issue of pricing, which companies like RIL, British Gas and British Petroleum have said should be market-determined.
The empowered group of ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is being convened soon to discuss a combination of a price hike and a reduction in government duties.
Earlier this week, the Empowered Group of Ministers approved the draft of the Food Security Bill, which will entitle 75 per cent of rural households and 50 per cent of urban households to subsidised foodgrain.
Prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that India will leave "no stone unturned" in its efforts to organise the 2036 Olympics as the government expressed a strong desire to host the biggest sporting event in the world.
A week after the steep hike in petrol prices by Rs 5 a litre, the government on Monday said a ministerial panel is likely to meet in the next few days to take a decision on raising diesel, LPG and kerosene rates.
The empowered group of ministers on Friday deferred a decision on the appointment of a financial consultant for privatisation and modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports.
Petroleum ministry rejects conclusions of two reports ahead of EGoM.
A hike in diesel and domestic LPG prices has been deferred for now, but an increase in petrol prices later this week looks imminent.
A Rs 3-4 a litre hike in the price of petrol, which had been freed from government control last June, is also on the cards immediately after polling in the last phase of Assembly elections is completed on May 10.
The Cabinet on Friday fixed a minimum or base price of Rs 14,000 crore for the Supreme Court mandated auction of telecom spectrum.
Modi can abandon the path of Hindutva only at risk to his position within his own fraternity. But if he pursues a hard line, he faces the risk of being hauled up by his coalition-partners. For the first time in a decade, Modi is not in enviable situation, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
With food inflation ruling at uncomfortable level, Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Thursday ruled out freeing of diesel prices from government control, saying the move was not politically and practically feasible.
State-owned oil firms have seen their losses on diesel sales widen to over Rs 6 per litre, even as a ministerial panel meeting on raising prices has not yet been scheduled.
According to sources, as per the new schedule given by the agency which will operate the auction process, the bidding for the airwaves can be started only by early November.
Actor Poonam Pandey is not being considered as the brand ambassador of the government's national campaign to spread awareness on cervical cancer, Union health ministry officials said on Wednesday.
Migration option scrapped for incumbent telecom operators; EGoM meets under Pawar today.
In a move that could hold a flicker of hope for telecom operators, who have been opposing the high base price for the auction of 2G spectrum, the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) has quietly modified the key objective of the auction. The text of the objective has been tweaked from "revenue maximisation" to "maximising revenue but within set parameters" determined by the government.
The EGoM is to consider fixing users for about 50 million cubic meters per day of KG-D6 gas, official sources said. This is in addition to the initial 40 mmscmd output that was previously distributed primarily to urea and power plants.
The empowered group of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on July 27, is likely to discuss setting priority for usage of the gas that is likely to be available in next five years, two sources privy to the development said.
It expects Rs 39,895 crore from it.
The government, which had set a reserve price of Rs 14,000 crore for pan-India spectrum broadly drawing from the basis used by Comptroller and Auditor General in calculating the loss in the previous sale in 2008, managed a meagre Rs 9,407.64 crore (Rs 94.07 billion) in the auction that lasted barely two days.
Telecom Commission says refarm all spectrum in 900-MHz band to 1,800-MHz band operators.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the two big state-controlled telecom companies, have written to the government asking that it bear the entire cost of the additional spectrum assigned to the two giants.
A key meeting of senior United Progressive Alliance government ministers and political parties, including the Congress and its Left allies, failed to secure a political consensus on the showpiece Special Economic Zones initiative.
The central leadership of the CPI(M) and chief ministers of the Left-ruled states of Kerala and West Bengal have discordant views on the question of a cap on the number of Special Economic Zones
The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on gas headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday decided that gas allocation from RIL's D-6 block will be made to power projects subject to availability and without prejudice to court decisions, according to a government release.
The Department of Telecommunications is scheduled to auction 3G spectrum starting January 14.
According to sources, DoT has been asked to prepare a matrix of various levels of reserve price and spectrum usage charge at every Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) difference in descending order and the impact that would have on tariffs for end-consumer and the revenue accrued to the government.
Government sources on Thursday confirmed that the EGoM would meet on August 27. The EGoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to discuss various issues, including the amount of 3G spectrum to be auctioned, annual spectrum charges, the number of operators in each telecom circle and the reserve price for 3G and broadband wireless services, sources said.
New Delhi The government has decided not to sell the Dabhol power plant, which has been struggling thanks to huge debts it owes to the contractors.
After poor response to last month's 2G spectrum sale, a ministerial panel on telecom on Friday decided to lower the base price by 30 per cent for radiowaves in 1800 Mhz band in four circles, which attracted no bidders, for fresh auction this fiscal.
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