Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi has stirred controversy by suggesting that members of the "upper castes" should handle the tribal affairs portfolio. Gopi, an actor-turned-politician, argued that true progress in tribal welfare would only be achieved under the leadership of individuals from "upper castes." His comments have been met with widespread criticism, including from CPI state secretary Benoy Viswam and prominent tribal leader C K Janu.
"For 2010-11 and beyond, the Kirit Parikh report will be the benchmark. The report is being studied.These decisions are politically sensitive issues and have to be sustained over a period of time," Petroleum Secretary S Sundareshan told Business Standard. "It is impossible to insulate the Indian consumer against the movement in international oil prices."
The ministry in a letter dated May 15 overruled Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board's de-recognisation of Indraprastha Gas Ltd, saying IGL was government's authorised entity for city gas projects in Delhi, NOIDA, Gurgaon and Faridabad. PNGRB had asked IGL, the company owned by state-run GAIL and BPCL and Delhi Government that retail CNG to automobiles and piped natural gas to households in national capital region, to stop all incremental activities.
Here is a list of Q & As to explain these issues and implications of the US move.
The 16th Brics Summit beginning Tuesday in Kazan, Russia, is expected to see more focus on creating a sharper energy policy for Brics that ensures closer partnership among members in both energy security and energy transition, official sources said. The same is expected to be a part of the Kazan declaration, currently being negotiated, they added.
Forwarding a letter written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, wherein the younger Ambani had sought a direction to the ministry of petroleum and natural gas 'to cease from overtly and covertly attempting to intervene in our commercial dispute with RIL," the PMO asked the ministry to examine the matter and submit their comments urgently.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, is also believed to be in favour of decontrolling auto fuel prices to limit the government's subsidy outgo but a decision is unlikely in the next 7-10 days as United Progressive Alliance managers build political consensus on the issue, an oil ministry official said.
India's merchandise exports dipped by about one per cent to $38.01 billion in December 2024 against $38.39 billion a year ago, according to government data released on Wednesday. Imports increased by 4.8 per cent to $59.95 billion in December 2024 compared to $57.15 billion in the year-ago month.
Petroleum ministry strongly supported the proposal of 26 per cent government holding in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation in the post disinvestment era to prevent new management from stripping or re-selling of company's assets to third party.\n\n
Cooking gas or Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) price has been raised by Rs 50 per cylinder by distribution companies, Union Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday.
Differences have once again surfaced between the ministries of divestment and petroleum over the sale of government equity in public sector oil company Balmer Lawrie.\n\n\n\n
Three years after India declared its goal to become a net-zero economy by 2070, the policy design for achieving the target has begun, with the NITI Aayog forming dedicated multi-sectoral committees to prepare a transition plan. In 2021, India joined a select group of nations that set a target year for becoming net-zero carbon economy. At COP26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined a five-pronged 'Panchamitra' climate action target for India and committed to a net-zero target by 2070, joining nations like the US, the UK, and China.
India is preoccupied with analysing the US sanctions, which may cut off India's access to discounted Russian crude and force it to buy at market prices.
On July 27, power ministry had written to the oil ministry saying 'the marketing margin being charged by RIL is not in line with the decisions of an empowered group of ministers on pricing formula (for KG-D6 gas)'. While Anil Ambani Group firm RNRL on Sunday alleged that RIL was charging 'unauthorised' marketing margin, 35 firms buying KG-D6 gas are paying the $0.135 per mmBtu to RIL without protest.
India and the United States will finalize the contours, schedule of negotiations, and terms of reference for a proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) during a three-day meeting beginning Tuesday. The agreement is expected to be finalized in two tranches, with the first phase focusing on goods trade. The US team, led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, will be in India from March 25-29 to discuss the agreement. Both countries are aiming to conclude the first phase of the agreement by fall 2025.
The latest flashpoint in West Asia has derailed India's preliminary plans to resume crude oil imports from Iran, officials said. In January, officials of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had told Business Standard that the government had been studying proposals for the same, given that India was trying to expand sources of imports. "We are always monitoring the situation when it comes to crude flows.
Anil Ambani group on Monday said the oil ministry's interference in marketing and pricing dampened investor interest in India's auction of oil and gas blocks and its chairman had warned the Prime Minister about the same.
However, copious oil supplies amid growing global output and slowing Chinese oil consumption will put India in a better bargaining position with Gulf suppliers.
Government has no role in fixing prices of natural gas produced from areas auctioned under NELP and only approves the pricing formula, petroleum ministry has told a committee of Secretaries appointed to look into the vexed issue.
Of the 17.99 mmcmd gas allocated to the power sector, gas supply pacts of only 2.67 mmcmd allocated to NTPC remained to be signed. NTPC's opposition has also delayed the GSPA for a separate 2.7 mmcmd allocated to the Dabhol power plant and the same is now slated to be signed next week.
The Prime Minister's Office on Thursday forwarded to Oil and Petroleum Ministry a letter written by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in which he has demanded that the decision to hike gas price extracted from KG basin be kept in abeyance till completion of a probe into the issue.
Reliance Natural Resources Ltd has questioned oil ministry's right to approve the price at which a producer sells gas to customers, saying its nod was needed only for the formula or basis of pricing of gas for computing government's share.
The petroleum ministry has rapped Reliance Industries for failing to meet its obligations of opening and operating 10 per cent of its petrol and diesel retail outlets in remote and low-service areas.
The oil ministry is in fact of the view that the government should bear the entire burden of the revenue losses incurred by the oil marketing companies, after the increase in prices is effected.
The petroleum ministry has sought a Rs 10 per litre increase in petrol and Rs 5 a litre hike in diesel prices, along with a cut in customs and excise duties, to offset the impact of surge in crude oil prices that have touched $135 per barrel.
The government has slashed allocation of natural gas used for LPG production, and diverted the low-priced fuel to city gas retailers like Indraprastha Gas Ltd and Adani-Total Gas Ltd to meet a part of their requirement for CNG/piped cooking gas supplies, according an official order. The government had in October and November last year cut supplies of low-priced natural gas coming from old fields such as Mumbai High and Bassein fields in the Bay of Bengal, to city gas retailers by as much as 40 per cent in view of limited output.
The Delhi government has announced that vehicles older than 15 years will be denied fuel at petrol pumps starting April 1.
The approval is required to put through gas sales agreements with customers, which in turn are required to finalise Gas Transportation Agreements with transmission companies.
RIL and Shell ceased production from the fields in 2016, and ONGC has already been using Tapti infrastructure for its other fields for better optimisation.
The petroleum ministry has recommended a hike in the foreign direct investment cap in government-owned refineries to 49 per cent from the current 26 per cent.
The government does not seem inclined, at least in the petroleum sector, to effect sudden and steep upward price revisions to tame its huge subsidy burden and rein in fiscal deficit.
OMCs are currently incurring daily under-recovery of Rs 230 crore.
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