The Industrial Development Bank of India has sold 7.56 crore shares (Rs 10 each) of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd to ONGC Ltd for about Rs 81.5 crore (Rs 815 million).
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation will buy 20.9 per cent stake held by banks and financial institutions in its subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd for around Rs 370 crore.
Decks have been cleared for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation to take over the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical Ltd with Public Investment Board on Wednesday giving consent to the Rs 659.4 crore (Rs 6.59 billion) proposal.
Senior bureaucrats Avinash Joshi and Niraj Verma are among the 10 candidates who are in the race to become chairman and managing director of India's largest oil and gas producer, ONGC. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) director-finance Pomila Jaspal and ONGC director for technology and field services Om Prakash Singh are the other prominent names in fray for the top job, according to a candidate shortlist by the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB). PESB - the government headhunter - will hold interviews to select the new head of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) this week. Both the bureaucrats are from the 1994 batch of IAS officers belonging to the Assam-Meghalaya cadre.
State-owned oil firms such as ONGC and IOC will invest over Rs 1.11 lakh crore in the next fiscal year starting April as they supplement the government's massive spending programme to spur economic growth. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), GAIL (India) Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) will together make a 7.4 per cent higher capital expenditure in the 2022-23 fiscal (FY23). The capex spending of Rs 1.11 lakh crore in 2022-23 compares with a revised estimate of Rs 1.04 lakh crore for the current fiscal year that ends in March, according to Union budget documents.
Alka Mittal has been appointed interim chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) - the first woman to head the country's largest oil and gas producer. Mittal replaces Subhash Kumar, another interim head who retired after reaching superannuation age on December 31. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for entrustment of additional charge of the post of chairman and managing director (CMD), ONGC to Alka Mittal, director (HR), ONGC for a period of six months with effect from January 1, 2022, or till the appointment of a regular incumbent to the post, or until further order, whichever is the earliest," the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in an order dated January 3, 2022.
Government headhunter PESB on Friday did not find anyone suitable from nine candidates, including two serving IAS officers, to head India's largest oil and gas producer, ONGC. The Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) interviewed 9 out of the 10 candidates who had applied for the post of chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). "Keeping in view the strategic importance and vision for the company and its future, the Board did not recommend any candidate and decided to constitute a Search Committee," PESB said in a notice after interviews. Those interviewed included senior bureaucrats Avinash Joshi and Niraj Verma.
Business opportunity after phased diesel deregulation the main trigger.
India has rejected a request from BP Plc to be allowed to sell jet fuel to the booming aviation market.
India plans to further cut imports from Iran by 13 per cent next fiscal even though easing of US and western sanctions has made buying crude oil from the Persian Gulf nation easier.
The merged entity will become the third biggest refiner behind IOC and Reliance Industries.
Iran has offered discounts on crude oil price and free shipping if India agrees to buy more of its oil.
The UAE central bank will then make payments in dirhams to Iran.
India has asked refiners that owe about $6.5 billion to Iran for oil imports to build up dollar and euro balances to avoid downward pressure on the rupee if six world powers and Tehran reach a final nuclear deal.
India's Iran imports rise to 276,800 bpd vs 195,600 bpd in 2013.
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.
US sanctions against Iran kick in from November 4, which will block payment routes. Sources said India and Iran are discussing reverting to rupee trade after November 4.
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Three PSUs, three private firms join bid to acquire 40% stake in Haldia Petrochem.
"We will be guided by our national interest," he said.
Diesel makes up nearly half of fuel demand in Asia's No 3 economy.
India's imports from Iran rose to 250,200 barrels per day
India has been eyeing deeper energy ties with Iran and has already lined up $20 billion as investment in oil and gas as well as in petrochemical and fertiliser sectors there.
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