ONGC to ramp up crude production
New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has said that it would ramp up domestic crude oil production to 28-29 million tonnes per annum by 2007 from the current level of 26 million tones and it would be investing Rs.18,814 crore by 2007 to meet this objective.

Of this, Rs.14,981 crore would be towards investments in offshore projects and the remaining Rs.3,833 crore in onshore projects.

ONGC has also ruled out entering the power sector as a diversification measure. The company also clarified that it would be entering the petro-retailing business during the current fiscal without the assistance of any joint venture partner.
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Oil subsidy: ONGC, GAIL, OIL to take a hit of Rs.2,300 crore
New Delhi: The Petroleum Ministry is actively considering a proposal to nearly double the LPG and kerosene subsidy to be borne together by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, GAIL (India) Ltd and Oil India Ltd during the second quarter of the current fiscal.

The three companies are set to bear a burden of around Rs 2,300 crore for the second quarter, up from Rs 1,200 crore during the first quarter of the current fiscal.

Once the final amount is decided by Government, the three companies will pay this amount to the public sector oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and IBP Ltd - which have been selling LPG and kerosene to consumers at a loss owing to non-revision of prices in the wake of rising global crude prices.

During the first quarter of the current fiscal, the LPG and kerosene subsidy borne by the public sector oil companies was Rs 3,600 crore. During this quarter, this is expected to rise by another Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 4,600 crore.

The subsidy losses are a direct result of the Government's tacit intervention to restrain the oil marketing companies from raising prices of kerosene and LPG even as the global price of the products have been soaring in line with hardening global crude oil price.
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CCEA clears Kahalgaon stage-II project and Rs.10 coins
New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the Rs.1,771.93-crore transmission system for the 1,000-MW Kahalgaon Stage II project in Bihar but deferred any decision on setting up an Investment Commission.

The cost of the 1,462-km transmission project includes interest of Rs.86.18 crore during construction and this project would facilitate evacuation of power from Kahalgaon Stage II generation project and further disbursal of Kahalgaon Stage II, phase-I to various beneficiaries in the eastern, western and northern regions, a statement issued after the CCEA meeting said.

Also, the CCEA approved introduction of Rs10 coins to partially supplement Rs10 notes. It also delegated powers to the Finance Ministry for design and metal composition for the Rs10 coins. The designs and themes of the new series of designs have been prepared by the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.

The Rs10 coins will be issued with three different themes — Unity in Diversity, Mudras from Bharatanatyam and Connectivity and Information Technology. The observe side of all the coins will, however, carry Lion Capital as well as denomination in Roman numerals.

However, notes of Rs 10 denomination will continue to be printed and issued in circulation, though in reduced quantity after the introduction of these coins.
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Centre backs Zee and says BCCI is a ‘state'
New Delhi: Zee Telefilms, which has challenged the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision to cancel the telecast rights tender, today found an ally in the Government. Supporting Zee Telefilms on the issue of maintainability of its petition, the Government stated in the Supreme Court that the BCCI was a ‘state' within the meaning of constitutional provisions.

The Additional Solicitor-General, Mohan Parasaran, appearing for the Centre, submitted before a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice Santosh Hegde, that the Board came under the purview of the definition of ‘state' under Article 12 of the Constitution. The Centre's stand is opposite to the BCCI claim that it was a private autonomous body having no links with the Government, either administratively or financially, and hence did not fall within the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

Counsel for BCCI, K.K. Venugopal, however said that the Centre could not be allowed to take a stand contradicting the one adopted by it earlier before the Delhi High Court, where in one matter it had categorically stated that BCCI was not a ‘state.' To resolve this conflict, the Bench has asked Parasaran to take instruction and ask his client to file an affidavit on this issue by Thursday.

Counsel for Zee Telefilms, Harish Salve, today argued that its writ petition was maintainable as the BCCI performed a public duty in selecting the national team.
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GoM to review print media policy
New Delhi: The Cabinet has decided to set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to undertake a comprehensive review of the print media policy.

The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister, Jaipal Reddy, has said that the Cabinet has been apprised of the FDI policy for the print media, which was spelt out in 2002, wherein 26 per cent FDI was allowed in news and current affairs publications and 74 per cent foreign investment was permitted in technical and speciality magazines. The Government has also decided to defer any changes in the Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act, 1867 till the GoM completes its review.
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IMF: World economy to witness strongest year of growth
Washington: In its World Economic Outlook (WEO), the International Monetary Fund has argued that unless the events take an "awful turn," the world economy will enjoy one of its strongest years of growth this year.

The report takes note of the trends in oil prices in recent months making the point that in the current context, this should be seen in the framework of a "volatile combination" of heightened demand, limited spare capacity and geo-political threats to the existing capacity. While oil prices may have slackened off to some extent, there is no guarantee that volatility will abate.

In the context of the impact of China and India, the report says that it was known that the phenomenal growth of China and, to a lesser extent, India, would eventually weigh on global energy resources.

The underlying message, according to the report is that politics in one country will impact the rest of the world in a variety of ways such as prices, interest rates, trade, ideas and conflict. Accordingly the report argues that it is increasingly important for the outside world that countries that need to reform do not succumb to reform fatigue. And fatigue is spreading. Politicians seem to be giving up on reform because people seem to reject it.

The WEO has made the point that while the global recovery over the past year has been well established with global GDP projected to average 5 per cent in 2004, the growth momentum has slowed from the second quarter especially in the US, Japan and China; and that oil prices have risen sharply.
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Along with IT, Iran seeks all round bilateral trade
Hyderabad: Iran has asked Indian information technology (IT) companies to take part in its efforts to establish IT parks in their country.

Syvosh Zargar Yaghoubi, Ambassador of Iran, said that a pilot project was on wherein Indian companies would establish five such parks in Iran. As an extension of this project, there was a proposal to establish 50 more such parks. About $300 million would be spent on them.

Stating that non-oil segment had huge potential for bilateral trade ties, he said bio-technology, higher education, tourism and energy were key areas that could be tapped.

Referring to various logistics projects that would improve land connectivity to the Central Asian markets, Yaghoubi said new transit and transport corridors would boost trade in this part of the world.

He also said that private organisations had good opportunities in the field of higher education and that Iran had decided to recognise more colleges in India in order to offer greater choices to its students. He said that Iranian students prefered India to the European Union.
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