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No immediate hike in diesel, LPG prices We are not considering hike in prices of diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene. It is out of question right now
— S Jaipal Reddy, Petroleum Minister
Clean-up actions by regulators to slow down growth: Report
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2G auction: Telecom Commission fails to decide base price
Delhi slashes 20% VAT on petrol
Rupee fall won’t hit India’s ratings, says Moody’s
Indian Oil Q4 net up over
three-fold at Rs 12,670 crore
IOC Chairman RS Butola at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday.
OIL eyes 51% stake in Reliance Gas Transportation
M&M to reopen booking for XUV 500 next month
Jubilant wins oil block in Myanmar
Daimler India to launch
18 trucks
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No immediate hike in diesel, LPG prices
New Delhi, May 28 With widespread protests and opposition to the sharpest hike in petrol prices, the government is trying to contain its fallout. On a possible rollback of petrol prices, the government is in a wait-and-watch mode to assess what needs to be done next. Simultaneously, it has asked state governments to cut local taxes on petrol to cushion the impact and some Congress governments like Delhi, Uttarakhand and Kerala have already followed suit. "We are not considering hike in prices of diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene. It is out of question right now," Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy said after a meeting called by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the impact of fuel price hike on inflation. Chief Economic Adviser Kaushik Basu was also present at the inter-ministerial group meeting on inflation. Reddy said no dates have yet been fixed for convening a meeting of a ministerial panel to decide on revising rates of diesel, LPG and kerosene. Reddy said he was not considering dual pricing of diesel - subsidised price for trucks and another rate for high-end luxury cars and power gensets, as it was not practical to implement. He said the Petroleum Ministry’s proposal to levy an additional duty on diesel cars was under consideration of the Finance Ministry. While this proposal has been mooted earlier, it has not be accepted. However, with raising fuel prices becoming unpopular with high inflation and low growth in the economy, it may be considered as an alternative source of revenue generation. Given a widespread opposition to the sharp increase in fuel prices, industry body Assocham has said both the Centre and the state governments must go in for reducing taxes on petrol and diesel besides revamping the taxation structure. “Petrol and diesel are not only the automobile fuels but they also fuel the economy, which is facing challenging times. While the oil companies cannot be allowed to take losses and the Centre alone cannot be expected to go on subsidising the oil sales, the consumers’ burden can be considerably reduced if taxes are reduced, “Assocham president Rajkumar N Dhoot said. |
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Clean-up actions by regulators to slow down growth: Report
New Delhi, May 28 While there has been a recent lull in economic activity, it is possible that it may have happened with the system becoming more strict and dodgy clearances getting difficult to get.
According to the report, the recent actions of the Indian executive, judiciary and regulators are an attempt to restore the primacy of law and democratic institutions in India. “We hope for an equitable, inclusive and transparent development model after eradication of a system based on corruption, cronyism and dysfunctional systems. It may have resulted in strong economic activity but it also extracted very high invisible costs from the Indian economy and society”, it says. The report talks of a transition from the current period of policy inaction in India to a better system of doing business in India, a system based on transparent policies, processes and regulations. “We see a better system as being imperative for a more inclusive and sustainable development of India. We welcome the eradication of certain business practices that exploited regulatory and policy deficiencies in certain sectors”, it says. Investors may worry about a bigger role of the Indian executive, judiciary and regulators in business affairs and find it retrograde and interventionist, but the Kotak note says that this should be viewed in a positive light, as necessary cleaning up of an archaic system that thrived on contacts, corruption and cronyism. “India may have to pay a price for past excesses through lower GDP growth (policy inaction) over the next 1-2 years. However, we see this as a cross to bear to get rid of a system that fostered corruption in all facets of economic activity”, it adds. The debate about increased government ‘interference’ notwithstanding, the report says that many business models that thrived on some form of regulatory or policy ‘capture’ may face a different and difficult operating environment. “Industries and companies can no longer look at a favourable system, policy lacunae and regulatory oversight to earn high returns. They may have to change their business models suitably and focus on volume growth. Investors may have already made their choices albeit painfully. It is up to the companies now”, the report adds.
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2G auction: Telecom Commission fails to decide base price
New Delhi, May 28 The country’s highest decision-making body for the telecom sector has now decided to refer the matter to the high-powered ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to take a decision on the base price of the spectrum, which is to be auctioned later in the coming months. However, the commission said it favours a reserve price of 800 MHz be twice that of 1,800 MHz spectrum band. Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar after the meeting told reporters that the EGoM will take a decision based on TRAI's analysis. The Telecom Commission deliberated on the base price suggested by the sector regulator TRAI but could not come to a decision. "The commission took note of reserve price which TRAI has recommended and it felt that an analysis need to be made and presented to EGoM on the impact of spectrum price on certain parameters that have been worked out," Telecom Commission Chairman and Secretary, Department of Telecom, Chandrashekhar said. The reserve price recommended by the TRAI had invited a lot of criticism from the telecom operators, who have not only been lobbying hard with the government to keep the base price low, but have been pointing out that in case the auction was held at the recommended price, the call rates would double. Reports suggest that there could have been a division in the Telecom Commission members over the recommendations as a result of which the matter has been left for the EGoM to decide. This will be the first time that 2G radio airwaves would be sold through an auction to redistribute them among carriers. The auction, due by August, follows a SC order to revoke a total 122 telecom licences awarded to eight carriers in a scandal-tainted 2008 state grant process.
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Delhi slashes 20% VAT on petrol
New Delhi, May 28 With this decision, the Delhi government becomes the third state government to give relief to the citizens. The UPA government at Centre asked the state governments to reduce local taxes on petrol. The first state to do so was Kerala. The state was followed by Uttarakhand. The announcement on slashing VAT on petrol was made by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who also holds finance portfolio, while tabling the budget proposals for the year 2012-2013 on the first day of the budget session in Delhi Legislative Assembly House today. Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said the government had reduced 20 per cent VAT from the hiked price of petrol in Delhi. This will reduce petrol price by Rs 1.26 per litre. Petrol will now cost Rs 71.92 here after cut in VAT. After the increase last week by the union government, the Delhiites shelled out Rs 73.18 for a litre of petrol. However, this may not give relief to the common man as the Delhi government proposed a fresh five per cent VAT on CNG. The chief minister also said, “The price of petrol in Delhi is the lowest among all the metro cities and lower compared to the price in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. I have deeply considered the matter and am of the view that the citizens of Delhi needed to be provided some relief. She said, “Honourable members will recall that earlier too we have given relief to the people when there was an increase in the price of diesel by exempting VAT on the increased component. Similarly, I propose to exempt the recently announced increase in the price of petrol from the levy of 20 per cent of
VAT.” — PTI |
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Rupee fall won’t hit India’s ratings, says Moody’s
The bigger pain would come in the private sector, Moody's said in a weekly credit report out on Monday, given that a falling rupee will raise the cost of paying back foreign currency borrowings. Still, the agency said total private sector external debt is at a "relatively low" 16 per cent of GDP, implying that the impact on the sovereign ratings from this private sector exposure would also be limited. "Individual firms’ foreign debt repayment troubles are unlikely to lead to the sort of domestic demand collapse or deleveraging seen in countries with more significant private-sector external leverage," it said. The rupee has been hitting record lows against the dollar because of concerns about the country's widening current account gap as well as the fiscal deficit. It has recovered somewhat since its latest record low of 56.40 hit on Thursday. Most of the government’s debt is owed to multilateral or bilateral creditors and has a maturity profile that keeps annual repayments relatively low, according to Moody's. In terms of the private sector, the rupee fall is credit negative for firms without export revenues and with foreign debt obligations, Moody's noted, though it adds these borrowings must be viewed in the context of India's nearly $300 billion in foreign exchange reserves. — Reuters
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Indian Oil Q4 net up over
three-fold at Rs 12,670 crore
Mumbai, May 28 The net profit rose to Rs 12,670.43 crore, or Rs 52.19 a share, in the January-March quarter from Rs 3,905.16 crore, or Rs 16.08 per share, a year earlier, the company said in filing to the stock exchanges. IOC said it got Rs 45,484 crore subsidy from the government to make up for most of the revenue it lost on selling diesel, domestic cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene below cost during the 2011-12 fiscal. The company, as also Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, sell these fuels at government-controlled rates to keep inflation under check. After the compensation, the company had to absorb just Rs 22.37 crore loss on the four fuels. It earned $4.25 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012, as opposed to $7.56 a barrel gross refining margin a year ago. The company, which declared dividend of Rs 5 per share, reported a forex loss of Rs 2,769 crore in FY'12. Its exceptional loss was of Rs 1,540 crore on account of entry tax. Sales rose 30 per cent to Rs 128,433.96 crore from Rs 98,482.45 crore. The net profit in 2011-12 fiscal at Rs 3,954.62 crore was down from Rs 7,445.48 crore in the previous year.
— PTI |
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OIL eyes 51% stake in Reliance Gas Transportation
New Delhi, May 28 OIL is one of the 11 firms - five Indian and six foreign - that have expressed interest to buy stake in
RGTIL. State-owned GAIL India Ltd and NYSE-listed energy major Enbridge are among the firms interested in buying stake. "We have submitted a separate
EoI," he said. The stake sale is being managed by JPMorgan, Citi and SBI Caps. Stating that OIL has ambitions to diversify into gas sector, he said the a financial bid would be made only after proper due diligence. RGTIL was originally a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd
(RIL) and was incorporated in March 2003 to transport natural gas from eastern offshore gas fields to consumption
centres. Two years later, it was transferred to Mukesh Ambani, chairman of
RIL. It was said at that time that Ambani may sell stake in the company through an initial public offering (IPO) once RIL's eastern offshore KG-D6 field hit peak volumes of 80
mmscmd. But with KG-D6 output plummeting to less than 34 mmscmd, he wants to sell the gas pipeline business.
— PTI |
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M&M to reopen booking for XUV 500 next month
New Delhi, May 28 "Now that we have ramped up our production capacity significantly, we are confident that we will be able to take care of the growing all-India demand for the XUV500," M&M chief executive, automotive division, Pravin Shah said. M&M had been producing about 3,000 units a month of the XUV500 at its Chakan facility earlier and plans to ultimately take it to a monthly output of 5,000 units. "To cater to the growing demand, production capacity (has been) ramped up to 4,000 vehicles per month," M&M said. The bookings will reopen from June 8, the company said, adding that nine months production capacity has been sold out for the XUV500. After launching the vehicle on September 29 last year, the company had temporarily suspended new bookings in October as four months production of over 8,000 units was sold out within just 10 days. The XUV500 is currently priced between Rs 11.58 lakh and Rs 14.11 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
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Jubilant wins oil block in Myanmar
Nay Pyi Taw, May 28 The India-focused energy
company had bid for two blocks in the auction last year but was awarded
one. Parami Energy Development Company Ltd holds the remaining 22.5 per
cent participating interest in this block. "Jubilant will utilise
its in-house expertise as operator of our Tripura, Manipur and Assam
blocks, which are geological and tectonically similar in setup to our
newly awarded block," company’s CEO Ajay Khandelwal said. —
PTI |
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Daimler India to launch
18 trucks
Jaipur, May 28 "We would be launching 18 models in next 18 months and the launch would start from October this year. The trucks will be customised as per the need of Indian market," V Sreeram, assistant vice-president, marketing and sales, told reporters here today. "We are focusing on network of dealership and after-sales service to ensure achievement of our target of capturing 20 per cent market share by 2020," he said.
In Rajasthan, he said, the company would initially have three dealership in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Uaidpur cities.
— PTI |
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prices of the regulated products would also be raised but Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy categorically refuted that possibility today.
Mumbai, May 28
Mumbai, May 28