Duties cut on petrol and diesel
New Delhi: The government has decided to reduce duties on petro-products. In the case of LPG and kerosene, the government does not intend to allow oil companies to raise prices, even as today's duty reductions will still leave the public sector oil companies selling these products at a loss. As part of the duty reductions announced by the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, in Parliament, the customs duty on both petrol and diesel have been brought down from 20 per cent to 15 per cent.

The excise duty on petrol has been pared from 26 per cent to 23 per cent while that on diesel has been reduced from 11 per cent to 8 per cent. Further, the customs duty on LPG and kerosene sold through the Public Distribution System (PDS) has been halved to 5 per cent. In addition, the excise duty on PDS kerosene has been reduced from 16 per cent to 12 per cent.

The reduction in duties on petrol and diesel will raise the margins earned by the oil companies. The final consumer price will, however, be less than the 'import parity' price. Under the 'import parity pricing' regime, the oil companies are compensated an amount that it would have cost to import and market the products.
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Bidders to be short listed for airports revamp
New Delhi: The Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) for modernising Delhi and Mumbai airports will shortlist the preferred bidders for the airport revamp joint ventures within the next few days, according to the Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

According to the minister, the shortlisted bidders will then be invited for technical and financial bids and a final recommendation would be forwarded to the empowered group of ministers (eGOM).

Ten consortia, including Reliance, Videocon and DLF had expressed interest to bid for 74 per cent stake in the JVs, in which the Airports Authority of India will hold a 26 per cent stake.
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NMDC to expand iron ore production
Hyerabad: The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has embarked on expansion plans to step up its iron ore production from the existing 18 million tonnes (mt) to 30 mt per annum by the year 2009-10. NMDC has accounted for 18.2 per cent of the total sales of 114 mt of iron ore in the country last fiscal. It had exported 7.1 mt of ore, which was 11 per cent of India's total iron ore exports and 1.3 per cent of the global trade. Last year, he said, NMDC had posted a profit before tax of Rs.616 crore.
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Government to wait for CAG report on Centaur deal
New Delhi: The Government will wait for the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India's (CAG) report on the disinvestment of Centaur Hotel in Mumbai before deciding on the 'discomforting aspects' of the sale concluded during the previous NDA regime, said the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram.

Replying to the debate on a calling-attention motion in the Rajya Sabha on the disinvestment of the public-sector hotel on Juhu Beach, Chidambaram concurred with a demand from the members that the best course would be to order an inquiry into the sale transaction, if everyone agreed. But the Government will prefer to wait for the CAG report on the issue.

The minister has said that doubts have arisen about the sale and if it was done in a fair and transparent manner. The Finance Minister said the agreement did not permit re-sale, and the subject was before the court. The minister said it was "not a coincidence" that the Air India Board was re-constituted a day after it decided to disinvest the hotel, and Ajit B. Keskar ceased to be its member and joined the bidder.

Raising the issue, Dipankar Mukherjee (CPI-M) said the seller turned out to be the buyer in the Rs.153-crore disinvestment deal, thus making the transaction look shady. Mukherjee wanted the Government to make it clear that the person representing Tulip Hospitality Services Ltd was a member of the Air India Board, whose subsidiary - Hotel Corporation of India - owned the Centaur. The same person was also the member of the sub-committee on the disinvestment of Air India.
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