Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie said Tuesday the SEBI has initiated an investigation into the fall of share prices of BPCL and HPCL.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday allowed Non-Resident Indian steel baron Lakshmi N Mittal to pick up 49 per cent stake in state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp's Bhatinda refinery.
After ONGC and IFFCO, state-run gas firm GAIL on Tuesday said it would bid for acquiring controlling stake in oil refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corporation if it was permitted by the government policy.
A bonus is given to existing stockholders in proportion to the number of shares they already hold.
Petrol price on Wednesday touched a new high of Rs 84.45 per litre in the national capital after state-owned fuel retailers hiked prices after a five-day hiatus. Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 25 paise per litre each, according to a price notification from oil marketing companies. In Delhi, petrol now costs Rs 84.45 per litre and diesel is priced at Rs 74.63. In Mumbai, petrol comes for Rs 91.07 a litre and diesel for Rs 81.34. This is the highest ever price of petrol in Delhi, while diesel is at a record high in Mumbai.
State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd on Monday a net loss of Rs 607.67 crore (Rs 6.07 billion) for the quarter ended June 30, as compared to net loss of Rs 507.89 crore.
The divestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) may hit a fuel price hurdle, according to officials dealing with the matter. They pointed out that the inconspicuous administered price regime could hamper the prospects for potential buyers of BPCL. A senior oil ministry official said public-sector oil-marketing companies (OMCs) take a hit when they sell petrol, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), three of the most popular petroleum products in the country.
As many as 20 central public sector enterprises and their units are at various stages of strategic disinvestment, while six are being considered for closure or are under litigation, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said on Monday.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Changing tracks helps. But, not taking the beaten path isn't always helpful. This is the story of two of India's biggest privatisations - Air India and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL). Nearly two decades after the last privatisation, a landmark divestment concluded this year when the loss-making national carrier Air India was sold to the Tatas.
Petrol and diesel prices on Thursday climbed to fresh highs in the country as rates were hiked by the most in recent times, even as fuel retailers said the government can cut taxes to ease consumer burden. Petrol and diesel price was hiked by 35 paise per litre each after a gap of a week, according to price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The increase took petrol prices to a fresh high of Rs 86.65 a litre in Delhi and to Rs 93.20 in Mumbai.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Oil marketing companies IOC, BPCL and HPCL have invited expressions of interest from start-ups that wish to be enrolled as fuel entrepreneurs for doorstep delivery of high-speed diesel through mobile petrol pumps.
Many users did not know that their entitlement was not coming to their regular bank account but going to an account which they had not applied for.
The state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd has proposed to lay a Rs 1,300 crore (Rs 13 billion) pipeline from Mundra in Gujarat to Delhi for transporting petroleum products to northern India.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is to set up three liquefied petroleum gas bottling plants with an investment of Rs 55 crore (Rs 550 million) even as it plans to introduce the 5-kg LPG cylinders in the urban areas.
McDonald's India, with an eye to expand in East, may open restaurants at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) outlets in Kolkata during the year.
A pilot for daily revision of petrol and diesel price will be first implemented in Puducherry and Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Chandigarh
Iraq is willing to double the credit period on crude sales to 60 days if Indian refiners buy more in 2014, the head of refineries at Hindustan Petroleum said. Iran has also sweetened the deal to expand its dwindling market share by offering free shipment and a nominal discount to Indian refiners, sources said last week.
The divestment process, however, will not be an easy affair as there are multiple stakeholders, including the employee unions, whose concerns will have to be addressed.
The government has received reports that tainted stock broker Ketan Parekh, barred from the capital markets till 2017 over a securities scam, is still active and has taken positions in oil PSUs like ONGC and HPCL.
Arundhati Bhattacharya, the chairperson of country's largest bank SBI, has been named as the most-powerful woman in business in India by Fortune magazine.
British oil major BP Plc on Thursday signed an agreement with state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd to negotiate a stake in HPCL's Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) Bhatinda refinery in Punjab.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
The fall in crude prices has added to the gains.
In a resolution passed at its national assembly in Haridwar, the SJM said the Modi government's proposed strategic divestment of PSEs was an "imprudent business decision" and "against national interest".
On Sunday, angry villagers of Leelala laid their own foundation stone - which had 'aam aadmi' inscribed as the name of the chief guest - still claiming the project was to come up in their village.
Expressing commitment to augment the country's infrastructure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday proposed to significantly enhance capital expenditure to Rs 5.54 lakh crore in the next fiscal, besides creating institutional structures and giving a big thrust to monetizing assets to achieve the goals of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP). Sitharaman said NIP, that was launched in December 2019 with 6,835 projects, has now been expanded to 7,400 projects and around 217 projects worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore under some key infrastructure ministries have been completed. "For 2021-22, I propose a sharp increase in capital expenditure and thus have provided Rs 5.54 lakh crores which is 34.5% more than the BE of 2020-21," the finance minister said.
Petrol price on Saturday breached the Rs 83 per litre-mark in Delhi for the first time in more than two years after a rally in international oil prices forced a 13th increase in rates in the last fortnight. Petrol price on Saturday was raised by 27 paise per litre and diesel by 25 paise, according to a price notification of oil marketing companies. Petrol price in Delhi rose to Rs 83.13 per litre from Rs 82.86. Diesel rates went up from Rs 73.07 to Rs 73.32 per litre.
IOC, BPCL and HPCL on Thursday afternoon stopped ATF supplies to Air India at six airports - Kochi, Pune, Patna, Ranchi, Vizag and Mohali - over payment defaults. AI flights from these places were tanking up from other airports.
Analysts are enthused by BPCL's upstream foray and have re-rated the stock in the past couple of years.
Tata Motors was the top gainer in the Sensex pack rallying 5.32 per cent. Among other prominent gainers were Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and TCS.
According to the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and UP geology and mining directorate reports, gold reserves totalling 2,944 tonnes have been found in the Sona Pahadi and Hardi blocks of the backward Sonbhadra district.
The Oil Ministry has fixed the subsidy payout by upstream firms like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Ltd at Rs 15,546.65 crore (Rs 155.46 billion) for the April-June quarter.
After getting Indian Oil Corporation, the nation's largest oil firm, to drop four independent directors and Engineers India Ltd to boot out two, it is now seeking to sack former Power Secretary P Uma Shankar, chartered accountant S Ravi and former BPCL Chairman R K Singh from the board of ONGC.
Indian Oil Corporation is India's only Fortune 500 company.
The Petroleum Ministry has asked for Rs 26,000 crore (Rs 260 billion) as fuel subsidy for the third quarter of this financial year, but the finance ministry is inclined to provide only Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) cash support.
The employees unions of Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum said on Tuesday that they will strike work for three days starting March 25 in protest against the proposed privatisation of two oil majors.