Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
To help them make up for the revenue lost on selling auto and cooking fuel below cost.
The state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd has posted a 95 per cent increase in the net profit at Rs 1537.36 crore (Rs 15.37 billion) for the financial year ended March 31, 2003 as against Rs 787.98 crore (Rs 7.88 billion) in 2001-02.
bp had last year bought 49 per cent stake in the 1,400-odd petrol pumps and 31 aviation turbine fuel stations owned by RIL for $1 billion.
The government on Thursday sanctioned Rs 17,772 crore (Rs 177.72 billion) cash subsidy to fuel retailers like IOC to cover for half of the revenues they lost on selling diesel and cooking fuels below cost in the September quarter.
Top losers in the Sensex pack included M&M, SBI, Yes Bank, Asian Paints, HDFC, Tata Steel and L&T, shedding up to 2.55 per cent. The broader NSE Nifty settled 79.80 points, or 0.72 per cent, down at 10,996.10.
According to data compiled by BS Research Bureau for BSE 100 companies, seven public sector companies -- Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Bank of India, Union Bank, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) and GAIL -- have reduced their employee costs ranging from one per cent to 21 per cent.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
India's fuel consumption slumped by over 66 per cent in the first week of April as a nationwide lockdown halted economic activity and travel, which eviscerated demand. Petrol and diesel demand is down 66 per cent in April, while aviation turbine fuel (ATF) consumption has collapsed by 90 per cent as most airlines have stopped flying, industry officials said.
Among top losers that dragged down key indices were Infosys, TCS, Reliance, SBI, Tata Steel and ITC, falling up to 2.15 per cent.
Jet fuel (ATF) price was on Monday hiked by a steep 56.5 per cent and that of non-subsidised cooking gas LPG by Rs 11.5 per cylinder on the back of firming up of international oil rates, but petrol and diesel prices continued to remain on freeze for a record 78th day. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was hiked by Rs 12,126.75 per kilolitre (kl), or 56.5 per cent, to Rs 33,575.37 per kl in the national capital, according to a price notification by State-owned oil marketing companies.
Losses on sale of diesel at government-controlled rates have hit a record Rs 19.26 a litre, sending state-owned oil companies scrambling for ways to cover the mounting losses.
"Air India is unable to pay even after a 90-day credit period. They owe us about Rs 300 crore without interest. There is also no bank guarantee from Air India to any of the oil marketing companies. We do not know when will the company honour its dues," said a BPCL official on condition of anonymity.
With the government preparing to restrict the number of subsidised cooking cylinders, oil marketing companies have launched a 'transparency' portal that allows customers to keep an eye on the number of cylinders sold in their account by the dealer.
The last week of March saw a series of new refining capacity going on stream. HPCL-Mittal Energy, Essar Oil and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals (MRPL) were able to announce completion of capacity additions a couple of days before the seven-year tax holiday in this regard came to an end, on March 31.
The countdown for BG's stake sale in Gujarat Gas Company (GGCL) begins tomorrow. Three months after BG made its intention of divesting its stake clear, over half a dozen potential bidders are likely to submit non-binding bids for BG's 65.12 per cent stake in the country's largest natural gas distributor by sales.
Attractive pricing coupled with improving prospects make the offer lucrative
BSE Smallcap index outperformed the frontline indices to rise 0.6%, while the BSE Midcap was flat
State-owned fuel retailers, which last week raised petrol price by Rs 1.80 per litre, reported a net loss of over Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) in July-September quarter and are borrowing heavily to even buy crude oil.
Getting compensated for at least 90 per cent of losses without government subsidy appears difficult.
Sitharaman raised excise duty and road and infrastructure cess on the auto fuels by Rs 2 per litre each to raise over Rs 28,000 crore.
Oil companies choose to skip the revision this time.
On Tuesday, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met Russian oil giant Rosneft's chief executive officer Igor Sechin and discussed raising crude imports from that country, in addition to talks about going for more acquisitions.
The government has ordered Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) to pay a near-record Rs 13,764 crore as fuel subsidy for the December quarter, a move that will dent the firm's profitability.
Despite a massive decline in crude oil prices since 2012 -- Modi has been prime minister in six of these eight years -- petrol in Delhi has become 10 per cent costlier and diesel 97 per cent, as of July 2.
Private carriers Jet Airways and Kingfisher owed over Rs 1,050 crore (Rs 10.50 billion) to the public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) like Indian Oil, HPCL and BPCL towards the payment of jet-fuel bills as on November 15.
State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on Tuesday said it is losing about Rs 3 on the sale of every litre of petrol, but will decide on raising prices at an "appropriate" time.
Low oil prices drove the growth in states' share faster than expected, says Abhishek Waghmare.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries
HPCL holds 50 per cent in Prize Petroleum while ICICI Bank has 35 per cent, ICICI Ventures 10 per cent and HDFC Bank 5 per cent.
At present, India has 56,999 fuel outlets. Of those, only 6,276 are owned by private companies
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) on Tuesday hiked petrol prices by about Rs 2.96 a litre effective midnight tonight, and other state-owned oil companies IOC and HPCL will follow suit on Wednesday.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented the Budget for 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha that is expected to provide relief to the pandemic-hit common man as well as focus more on driving economic recovery through higher spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbours, As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth Budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.
State-owned fuel retailers IOC, BPCL and HPCL are likely to lose Rs 65,000 crore on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost during the current fiscal, Oil Minister Murli Deora said on Wednesday.
Indian Oil Corporation, the nation's largest fuel retailer, is likely to hike petrol prices by Rs 0.33 per litre from Tuesday. IOC Chairman B M Bansal said international crude oil prices have risen since the last price revision, necessitating an increase in domestic retail prices.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Wednesday met Oil Secretary S Sundareshan to discuss defaults by his group firm Kingfisher Airlines on payment of jet fuel bills, but did not say when he will clear the outstanding of Rs 176 crore (Rs 1.76 bilion).
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
While divestment through IPOs saw an over 90 per cent drop as compared to the previous financial year, the exchange traded fund (ETF) route proved to be a shot in the arm for the government, reports Sundar Sethuraman.
The company, which has successfully commissioned the 'open access' fuel storage system for the first time in the country at Bangalore International Airport, has submitted its expression of interest for the projects. Currently, IOC, HPCL and BPCL are providing fuel storage services at Mumbai and Delhi airports.
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