Documents obtained by The Hindu show that the Union Coal Ministry was made aware as far back as July 2004 that flawed policies that allotted captive coal blocks rather than auctioning them would give unearned “windfall gains” to private parties.
A leaked draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General has reportedly estimated a loss of Rs. 10.67 lakh crore to the exchequer due to the government's failure to auction coal blocks.
Stating that the subsidised diesel was taking a toll on the health and environment, the Economic Survey strongly pitched for not only a hike in prices of diesel but also called on the government to pay a fixed amount per litre as diesel subsidy to contain the ballooning subsidy bill.
“For diesel, where even the rudimentary first step for freeing prices has not yet occurred, a possible intermediate step is to fix a per litre subsidy from the government.
To look into grant of work permits for foreign nationals
Seeking to remove the unreasonable roadblocks and to win the confidence of international investors in the oil and gas exploration operations, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has stepped in and set up a high-powered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) to examine all issues of the petroleum sector and give its recommendations for grant of smooth clearances in future, including working conditions for foreign nationals of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Allies of the ruling United Progressive Alliance have again forced the Manmohan Singh government to take a step back, this time over the ban on cotton exports. The government has now announced that a new notification revoking the ban imposed on March 5 will be issued on Monday, in what is considered a victory for Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who stoutly opposed the decision,
Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) has written to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry seeking allocation of entire KG-D6 crude oil production for the Cauvery Basin Refinery (CBR) at Nagapattinam in order to sustain CBR operations and achieve increased capacity utilisation.
Urge Centre to reform debt-ridden state electricity boards
Leading power sector honchos on Wednesday met the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Pulok Chatterjee, and demanded that steps be taken to address their long-pending demands, including immediate allocation of gas to all the projects recommended by the Power Ministry, reforms in the debt-ridden state electricity boards and priority in gas allocation to power and fertilizer sectors in the XII Plan.
With the production from the once prolific Krishna Godavari basin D6 block of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) projected to decline to 27 million standard cubic metres per day (mscmd) by April thi
Asserting that there is no case for revision in price of natural gas price, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has dismissed the demand by Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)
With the Finance Ministry still to come out with a final formula on sharing the fuel subsidy burden, the government has asked upstream oil companies Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Oil Indi
