Centre constitutes package to liquidate oil pool deficit
New Delhi--The ministries of finance and petroleum are jointly working out a comprehensive package to liquidate the burgeoning oil pool deficit, which has already touched Rs 13,000 crore (as on July 31, 2001) and is expected to cross the Rs 16,000-crore mark by the end of this fiscal.
In order to meet the schedules for dismantling of the
administered pricing mechanism (APM) by March 2002,
the Centre has to nullify the dues accumulated in the
oil pool account, besides reducing the existing
subsidies on PDS kerosene and domestic LPG.
Top government sources said that the plan to reduce
the deficit included the issuance of non-transferable
special government bonds to national oil companies
against the outstanding amounts payable to them from
the oil pool account, besides increasing prices of PDS
kerosene and domestic LPG in a phased manner.
A meeting of secretaries of finance and petroleum was
held last fortnight to take note of the staggering oil
pool deficit. Another high-level meeting has also been
planned between the two ministries immediately after
the current Parliament session is over.
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Metro 5-star hotels; falling occupancy levels
New DelhiA survey conducted by New Delhi-based hotel
and tourism counsultancy firm, Pannell Kerr Forster,
says that the percentage of revenues from rooms to the
total revenues of hotels are falling in the metros of
New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
The room revenues of 10 five-star hotels in New Delhi
fell from 59 per cent (of the total revenues earned)
in 1999 to 52 per cent during 2000.
In Mumbai, the revenues were down to 65 per cent from
69 per cent and were down 6 percent in Chennai.
Uttam Dave, chief executive of Pannell Kerr Forster,
said: "The declining revenue contribution from rooms
was because of a fall in occupancies and declining
average achieved room rates. He says that in many
ways, the hotel industry is a barometer of a
destination's economic climate -- the results were
early signals of a troubled economy.
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Railways to invite BOT tenders for 3 projects
New Delhi--The Railways, in an effort to make a new
beginning for private sector participation in building
its fixed assets with a build-operate-transfer (BOT)
scheme, is shortly planning to call for global tenders
for three projects under the scheme.
The BOT scheme has received the law ministrys nod
after certain minor changes in the force majeaure
clauses and is now awaiting a formal Railway Board
approval.
As against an earlier practice of forming special
purpose vehicles with railway and private
participation for building fixed assets, the scheme
envisages private participation through a consortium
of construction contractors and financiers.
The new scheme, modelled after the BOT route taken by
the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), would
be implemented for small projects initially and would
later be extended to bigger project based on private
sector response. Only projects with 16 per cent or
above internal rate of return would be brought under
the BOT umbrella.
Thus in another two months tenders would be called for
track and signalling work relating to gauge conversion
of Virmagam-Mehsana section in Gujarat, Utratia
Chandroli-Sultanpur Bandhua Kalan doubling in Uttar
Pradesh and Kalpurigram-Siho doubling work in north
eastern railway. These projects are expected to give
more than 20 per cent returns.
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