The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to a 4-month low of 8.1 per cent in September 2023 against 8.3 per cent a year ago, according to the official data released on Tuesday. The growth rate in the output of refinery products, fertiliser, cement and electricity during the month under review has decelerated, while it was negative in the case of crude oil. The previous low was in May, when the growth rate of these sectors stood at 5.2 per cent.
Royal Dutch/Shell on Thursday said it may set up a petroleum refinery in India, a country to which it attaches highest priority.
The Hinduja group plans to go ahead and set up a Rs 25,600 crore (Rs 256 billion) refinery at Kakinada even if its indecisive project partner Oil and Natural Gas Corporation opts out. ONGC had put a slew of conditions, including Andhra Pradesh government giving 950 acres of land free of cost, sales tax exemption and fiscal concessions equivalent to a Special Economic Zone, for setting up the 15 million tons refinery-cum-petrochemical project at Kakinada.
Saudi Aramco chairman and head of the Kingdom's cash-rich wealth fund PIF Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan will join the board of Reliance Industries Ltd as an independent director in a precursor to a $15 billion deal. Reliance chairman and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, who had two years back disclosed the talks to sell a 20 per cent stake in the company's oil-to-chemical unit to Saudi Aramco, announced the appointment of Al-Rumayyan at the company's annual meeting of shareholders. Harvard educated Al-Rumayyan, 51, will replace Yogendra P Trivedi, 92, who has expressed a desire to retire, Ambani said. On the sale of a 20 per cent stake in the O2C business, he said the deal is likely to conclude this year.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora reviewed the impact of floods in Gujarat on oil installations and supply of products on Thursday.
The output of eight infrastructure sectors registered a growth of 3.6 per cent in March 2023, the slowest in five months, showed government data released on Friday. The output of core sectors had increased by 7.2 per cent in February 2023 and 4.8 per cent in the year-ago month. The previous low was 0.7 per cent in October 2022.
The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors rose to a 14-month high of 12.1 per cent in August 2023 against 4.2 per cent a year ago, mainly due to expansion in production of coal, crude oil, and natural gas, according to the official data released on Friday. The expansion in August is the highest since June 2022, when it was 13.2 per cent. The production of refinery products, steel, cement and electricity also grew in August, the data showed.
India will switch to the world's cleanest petrol and diesel from April 1 as it leapfrogs straight to Euro-VI emission compliant fuels from Euro-IV grades now -- a feat achieved in just three years and not seen in any of the large economies around the globe. India will join the select league of nations using petrol and diesel containing just 10 parts per million of sulphur as it looks to cut vehicular emissions that are said to be one of the reasons for the choking pollution in major cities.
The government on Friday slapped an export tax on petrol, diesel and jet fuel (ATF) while also joining nations like the UK in imposing a windfall tax on crude oil produced locally. A Rs 6 per litre tax on export of petrol and ATF and Rs 13 per litre tax on export of diesel is effective from July 1, finance ministry notifications showed. Additionally, a Rs 23,250 per tonne tax was levied on crude oil produced domestically.
The market responded positively to the Q1 results of oil marketing companies (OMCs), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) despite numbers being weaker than consensus. BPCL's reported gross refining margin (GRM) was in line at $7.9 per barrel (bbl) in Q1FY25, which implies marketing margin stood at Rs 4.8 per litre. Standalone profit after tax or PAT at Rs 3,000 crore was down versus consensus due to under-recoveries in LPG business.
The fire was brought under control after three hours, a Mumbai Fire Brigade official said, adding that cooling operations were underway.
The police have stepped up security following an intelligence alert over the possibility of terror strikes on key installations and oil refineries based at Jamnagar in Gujarat, and released photographs of the suspected terrorists. The Intelligence Bureau had recently alarmed the authorities in Jamnagar and capital Gandhinagar, about possible strikes by suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists.
Essar Oil has agreed to the government condition of not raising any funds against the Ratna and R-series oil fields for its refinery project, so as to expedite signing of the long-delayed contract for the field.
Sri Lanka on Thursday signed an agreement with India to jointly redevelop the strategic World War II-era oil tank farm in the island nation's eastern port district of Trincomalee, in a new milestone in bilateral economic and energy partnership.
The list of guests included celebrities from across the globe, politicians, the who's who of Hindi and south Indian cinema world and almost all the top cricketers of the country.
Ahead of a meeting of oil producers' cartel OPEC, India on Tuesday said the current oil prices are "very challenging" and rates need to be a "little bit sober" lest they impact a consumption-led recovery of the global economy. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who last week again urged OPEC to phase out its production cuts, said India is a price-sensitive market and it will buy oil wherever it gets competitive rates. The rebound in international oil prices from lows hit last month on the back of demand recovery has led to a spike in petrol and diesel retail prices in India.
Non-core sponge iron plants, petrochemicals units and oil refineries have cornered as much as 13.13 million cubic metres per day out of the 60.76 mmscmd of KG-D6 gas allocated.
Around 5,000 Shia Muslims and 162 Hindus have agreed and are ready to go to Iraq.
Sunni rebels from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria -- who have stormed Iraq's big cities like Mosul and Tikrit, taken over its largest oil refinery and slowly marching on to Baghdad, leaving a trail of blood and death -- as a part of its image-building has done something only major corporations do at the end of the year: issues annual reports, outlining its attacks, assassinations and terror acts.
Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest oil marketing company, has put on hold its plan to set up a 15-million tonne refinery at Haldia due to the economic downturn.
Riddhi Shah shares her 2 States story! Share yours too!
Indian imports of Russian oil plunged by a record in August month-on-month (M-o-M) as discounts on the fuel shrank in tandem with rising Brent oil prices. Higher crude prices will drive inflation or hurt earnings at oil companies and India's fiscal position if such spikes are not passed on to consumers. Indian purchases of Russian crude declined by around 24 per cent in August from July to the lowest level since January, with refiners expecting volumes to drop further amid rising rates of Russian benchmark Urals grade, substantial stocks at refiners, and planned maintenance at Indian refineries, according to ship tracking data and industry officials.
A day after Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to forestall political attempts to throttle his oil refinery business, the petroleum ministry has come out with a detailed presentation to show that the demand for the windfall profits tax (WPT) on private oil companies is 'short-sighted populism' and 'bad economics.'
The state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation may buy stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation's 6 million tonne Bina Refinery.
It is looking to invest over Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) for a greenfield project in Raigad or Ratnagiri districts of Maharashtra.
The growth rate in the production of eight key sectors slowed down to a 20-month low of 0.1 per cent in October on account of contraction in the output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, and cement, according to the official data released on Wednesday. In October last year, these sectors expanded by 8.7 per cent. In September this year, the core sectors' output growth stood at 7.8 per cent.
Even as public protests are rife against outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom in eastern Assam district of Tinsukia over deaths of three innocent children in a freak grenade explosion on the afternoon of January 9, in a village near the oil refinery town of Digboi, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday directed the state police chief to gear up vigil and beef security measures.
Petrol and diesel prices are unlikely to be increased despite firming raw material costs because of upcoming general elections next year, Moody's Investors Service said. Three state-owned fuel retailers -- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) -- which control roughly 90 per cent of the market, have kept petrol and diesel prices on freeze for a record 18 months in a row. This is despite the raw material (crude oil) cost surging last year, leading to heavy losses in first half of 2022-23 fiscal year before easing oil prices propelled them to profitability.
In a sudden volte-face, the government is veering around the idea of setting up a Rs 8,000 crore refinery in Rajasthan to process crude oil found in the state.
India plans to complete by 2006 a 180,000-bpd refinery, which has been under a cloud because of the proposed privatisation of the company that is building it, Oil Minister Ram Naik
Russian oil supplies to India will continue to flow unhindered and suppliers will come up with ways to sidestep secondary sanctions, a Russian official told Business Standard.
India will import five additional cargoes of LPG in November to meet the shortfall in domestic cooking gas created due to the unplanned shutdown of a crucial unit of Reliance Industries Ltd's Jamnagar refinery.
Glimpses of how the Russian invasion has impacted the lives of Ukrainians.
In signs that Iran is serious about shutting off crude oil supplies to India over unpaid bills, the Islamic Republic has not allocated any volumes for supply to any of the Indian refiners for August.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances