Aug. 4 - The New Delhi government is proposing that diesel, petrol, compressed natural gas and health care services be excluded under India’s new Goods and Services Tax (GST) scheduled to be implemented next year.
“Several other states have also supported our view to keep petroleum products and CNG out of the ambit of GST. We will also request for excluding healthcare services from GST,” said Delhi Finance Minister A.K. Walia. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar. 23 - Sources from India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas indicated that Cairn India has discovered massive new oil reserves in Rajasthan that could increase India’s domestic oil production by about 23 percent next year reports The Economic Times.
The company is expected to make an official announcement shortly. Cairn India extracts oil from the Barmer region of Rajasthan and has launched seismic surveys in a number of its other blocks. It has undertaken 4D seismic survey at Ravva. Cairn India also launched 3D seismic surveys in Palar basin and in Sri Lanka, and specializes in surveying and extraction from smaller and less accessible fields. Read the rest of this entry »
Oct. 30 - Russia-based energy efficiency consultancy firm, GCE group, announced its entry into the Indian market, where it will be operating in sectors such as oil and gas, power and cement, reports The Hindu.
“We have entered the Indian market with a long-term expansion plan and aim to clock $100 million revenue annually over the next five years,” GCE Group President Alexander Moskalenko said at a press conference. Read the rest of this entry »
Sept. 2 - The government is considering awarding top state-owned companies the Maha Ratna status to give it more freedom to negotiate joint ventures, investments and grow capacity.
“My ministry will seek cabinet approval for elevating some of the Nav Ratna companies owned by the government to the Maha Ratna status provided their net profit is Rs.50,000,000,000 for three consecutive years,” Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was quoted as saying by The Economic Times at the sidelines of an official function.
Sept. 1 - India’s economy grew by 6.1 percent from April to June despite the previous quarter’s 5.8 percent growth and the economic crisis stunting its manufacturing and services sectors.
According to Delhi’s Central Statistical Organization, mining, electricity and financing sectors performed well during the quarter while there was a registered slowdown in trade, hotels, transport and communication industries. The Hindu reports that manufacturing was down to 3.4 percent from 5.5 percent and agriculture slowed to 2.4 percent from 3 percent compared to last year.
Jun. 24 - The Indian government is considering a series of tax holidays, including a seven year tax break, to assist with the development of exploration in its oil and gas sectors and lessen its dependence on imports.
Currently three quarters of India’s oil and gas consumption is imported, and the decision to approve tax breaks has been under review after the collapse of the nations National Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) last year.
At immediate stake is the on-going development of the country’s KG Basin, operated in the private sector by Reliance Industries, as well as various state owned oil and natural gas corporations.
By Vikas Srivastava
Jun. 18 - The government of India is implementing more initiatives to attract more foreign direct investment in its petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical sectors by establishing specific investment regions for this.
The Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Regions (PCPIRs) will be established in the state of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The government plans to set up investment regions which will offer foreign and domestic players networking and a common infrastructure of services to provide cost benefit opportunities suitable for new ventures and leading to growth in production, exports and job creation.
May 14 - India’s oil ministry may build a national gas highway to bring a steady supply of natural gas across the country.
Currently, gas pipelines are found mainly in the eastern and western regions while the southern, central and north-eastern regions are lacking. Expanding the pipeline should balance economic and regional growth.
Funds for the project will come from various sources, including a possible cess on domestically-produced natural gas, said petroleum secretary RS Pandey on the sidelines of an industry meeting organized by the India Energy Forum. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr. 10 - In order to attract increased revenues into long term investments and reduce the burden of importing 75 percent of its annual crude oil requirements, the Indian government is stepping up oil and gas exploration to boost production.
The Indian government is offering 70 oil and gas exploration blocks under the eighth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (Nelp-VIII). Bids will be accepted from both domestic and international investors until August 10th. Petroleum secretary RS Pandey told the Economic Times, “We have offered 24 deepwater blocks, 28 shallow water blocks and 18 on land blocks under Nelp-VIII”. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec. 24 - Planning to ease the subsidy burden on Indian oil companies, the Oil Ministry said it is in the process of formulating a system to offset losses incurred by state oil companies.
Reuters sources say the paper which is expected to be released in mid January is likely to limit the subsidy share between crude oil firms and oil refinery companies to 300 billion rupees (US$6.40 billion) for the current financial year ending March 2009. Meanwhile the government has also told upstream Indian oil companies ONGC and Oil India Ltd not to extend any discounts to public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) – Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation – on the sale of crude oil, effective from December. Read the rest of this entry »
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