IOC has been pleading with the government to move petrol back to a controlled regime

After two months of losses, oil marketing companies (OMCs) have started making profits on sale of petrol, thanks to the softening global price and an excise cut announced by the government last week. The OMCs have begun making a margin of around Rs 1 on every litre sold. The three — Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum — were losing around Rs 6 on every litre of petrol in the first fortnight of this month. To prevent any price increase in petrol, the government last Thursday cut the excise duty by Rs 5.30 a litre. Until then, it was charging Rs 14.78 through excise on every litre. The move almost covered the loss that the OMCs were incurring on petrol.

The two moves to cut OMCs' underrecovery by Rs 20,300 cr this year

In the second major oil sector reform after petrol decontrol of June 2010, the government on Thursday capped subsidised domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for a consumer to six per year. For a consumer using 12 LPG cylinders annually, the extra outgo on six additional cylinders at current market price will be Rs 2,106. Also, the diesel price was increased by Rs 5 a litre, while the excise duty on petrol was reduced by Rs 5.30 a litre to avoid a price increase.

The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (ATE) on Wednesday issued notices to the three PSU oil marketing companies IndianOil (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) on petition

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will take up the implementation of the innovative direct transfer of subsidy scheme on a pilot basis in Mysore from the second week of this month.

The UIDAI has informed all banks that it will start crediting the subsidy amount to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts online with respect to 30 LPG distributors in Mysore city, Chairperson of the State-Level Bankers’ Committee M G Sanghvi said here on Wednesday.

The Tamil Nadu Government has commenced the implementation of its ambitious programme to provide solar-powered lights to 300,000 homes in the State.

Forced to scale down petroleum retail operations, Reliance Industries Ltd and Essar have taken their predatory pricing complaint against government oil marketing companies (OMCs) to the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity.

In July, the PNGRB (petroleum and natural gas regulatory board) had dismissed a plea of these private fuel retailers against government oil marketing companies. Though the two companies are pursuing the case, Shell India has decided to withdraw.

New Delhi GAIL India has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity order that upheld the PNGRB’s decision to accept the technical bid of the Gujarat State Petronet-led consortium for laying the R5,000-crore Mallavaram-Bhopal-Bhilwara-Vijaipur gas pipeline project.

GSPL, which currently operates about 2,000 km of pipelines in Gujarat, has a 52% stake in the consortium, with Indian Oil Corp holding 26%, and Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp having 11% each. The grouping had emerged as the lowest bidder for the project, ousting GAIL.

New Delhi Falling KG-D6 output, costly imported LNG hem in power plants

India's gas-based power stations are facing an uncertain future. Depleting output from Reliance Industries’ KG-D6 block and non-availability of adequate infrastructure to handle liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports are set to trigger suspension of about 7,000 MW of generating capacity, further widening the large gap between power demand and supply.

Petrol pricing may officially be out of the government’s control, but a veiled intervention by the government has resulted in Indian Oil Corp and other state-run oil marketing firms Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) differing on what is the best solution. BPCL and HPCL see IndianOil's call for moving into a price control regime as a “retrograde step”.

The government's fuel pricing policy led IndianOil, India’s largest oil marketing company, to post the biggest-ever quarterly loss at Rs 22,451 crore in the April-June period. While the oil marketing companies are compensated for revenue losses on diesel, cooking gas and kerosene, they are forced to take losses on account of petrol on their books.

The Indian Oil Corporation Ltd has urged its dealers to run petrol pumps on solar energy as part of a nationwide green initiative.