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The combined turnover of the central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) has gone up 84% to Rs.10.81 trillion (Rs.10,81,000 crore) last fiscal from Rs.5.87 trillion in 2003-04, Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee said here on Monday.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4137013.cms
Public sector companies' turnover rises 84%
16 Feb 2009, 1521 hrs IST, IANS
NEW DELHI:
Presenting the interim budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is recuperating from heart bypass surgery, Mukherjee said combined profit of the CPSEs has increased 72% from Rs.530 billion to Rs.910 billion. The public sector companies' contribution to the central exchequer by way of dividend, interest and taxes and duties went up 86%. The minister added that the number of loss making enterprises has come down from 73 in 2003-04 to 55 in 2007-08, while the number of profit making enterprises has gone up from 143 to 158. Mukherjee said the government set up the National Investment Fund in November 2007 to finance select social sector schemes. The proceeds made by disinvesting government stakes in public companies were deposited in the fund. "The residual 25% annual income of the fund will be used to meet the capital investment requirements of profitable and revivable CPSEs," Mukherjee added.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Oil companies stare at losses on petrol, LPG
Unkindest cut: Kerosene loses Rs 12 a litrePetrol on the vergeOnly diesel makes a profit of Rs 3.26/litre
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/02/19/stories/2009021950190500.htm
Murali Gopalan Mumbai, Feb. 18 Barely weeks after the Centre slashed prices of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the public sector trio of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) are now facing the possibility of another round of losses on the retail side. For the fortnight beginning February 16, the estimated profit on petrol has tumbled to 5 paise a litre while it is a lot healthier in the case of diesel at Rs 3.26/litre. Losses on LPG (or cooking gas) are mounting steadily to Rs 79 a cylinder and on kerosene to Rs 12 a litre.Set to get worse “By the next fortnight, we will begin making losses on petrol too while the figure on LPG could rise sharply as global prices are beginning to firm up. “The silver lining in the cloud is diesel but consumption in India has seen a drastic reduction lately which means we cannot capitalise on this gain either,” top oil industry sources told Business Line. Compare this with the scenario in early January when IOC, HPCL and BPCL were making profits of nearly Rs 10/litre on petrol and a little over Rs 3 on diesel. Prior to this, in December last year, profits on petrol were close to Rs 15 while it was Rs 5 on diesel. It explains why the Centre went in for successive price cuts in December and January to the tune of Rs 5 and Rs 2 each time.What was puzzling, though not entirely surprising given that this is election time, was the move to cut LPG prices. The three oil companies were already losing close to Rs 33 per cylinder before the announcement, which consequently went up to Rs 58 and is today inching towards Rs 80. “We are worried about LPG and, going by global price trends, losses could cross Rs 100 a cylinder within a month,” sources said. Losses on LPG were close to Rs 150 (a cylinder) in early December and twice as much in the preceding months when the oil price crisis was spinning rapidly out of control. This was the time when some of the companies were contemplating freezing fresh connections for households. Oil industry executives are puzzled by the Centre’s alacrity when it comes to price cuts. “Six months ago, we were reporting losses of Rs 550 crore daily and were on the verge of bankruptcy. When crude prices fell and we had begun breathing again, the tinkering began on petrol and diesel. Today, we are back to square one though the losses may not be as heavy,” they say. According to them, this is the best time to deregulate prices of petrol and diesel while the under-recoveries on LPG and kerosene can be transferred to the Union Budget. The Nirmal Singh Committee report on oil reforms tabled a decade ago had recommended freeing of prices by 2002 but successive governments dithered on the proposal for fear of antagonising the voter. It is only too obvious, experts aver, that the oil companies should become the “fall guys” in an election year. “There is no guarantee that crude prices will stay at this depressed level of $35/barrel forever as much as nobody expected them to crash so rapidly from $147 in mid-2008,” they say. However, the damage has been done and IOC, BPCL and HPCL may end up reporting their first ever net losses for an entire fiscal in 2008-09. They have sought nearly Rs 15,000 crore, in addition to the oil bonds, to make up for losses incurred and this estimate may go up further if the price movements in the fourth quarter are any indication. The question this: will the Centre comply?
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/02/19/stories/2009021950190500.htm
Murali Gopalan Mumbai, Feb. 18 Barely weeks after the Centre slashed prices of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the public sector trio of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) are now facing the possibility of another round of losses on the retail side. For the fortnight beginning February 16, the estimated profit on petrol has tumbled to 5 paise a litre while it is a lot healthier in the case of diesel at Rs 3.26/litre. Losses on LPG (or cooking gas) are mounting steadily to Rs 79 a cylinder and on kerosene to Rs 12 a litre.Set to get worse “By the next fortnight, we will begin making losses on petrol too while the figure on LPG could rise sharply as global prices are beginning to firm up. “The silver lining in the cloud is diesel but consumption in India has seen a drastic reduction lately which means we cannot capitalise on this gain either,” top oil industry sources told Business Line. Compare this with the scenario in early January when IOC, HPCL and BPCL were making profits of nearly Rs 10/litre on petrol and a little over Rs 3 on diesel. Prior to this, in December last year, profits on petrol were close to Rs 15 while it was Rs 5 on diesel. It explains why the Centre went in for successive price cuts in December and January to the tune of Rs 5 and Rs 2 each time.What was puzzling, though not entirely surprising given that this is election time, was the move to cut LPG prices. The three oil companies were already losing close to Rs 33 per cylinder before the announcement, which consequently went up to Rs 58 and is today inching towards Rs 80. “We are worried about LPG and, going by global price trends, losses could cross Rs 100 a cylinder within a month,” sources said. Losses on LPG were close to Rs 150 (a cylinder) in early December and twice as much in the preceding months when the oil price crisis was spinning rapidly out of control. This was the time when some of the companies were contemplating freezing fresh connections for households. Oil industry executives are puzzled by the Centre’s alacrity when it comes to price cuts. “Six months ago, we were reporting losses of Rs 550 crore daily and were on the verge of bankruptcy. When crude prices fell and we had begun breathing again, the tinkering began on petrol and diesel. Today, we are back to square one though the losses may not be as heavy,” they say. According to them, this is the best time to deregulate prices of petrol and diesel while the under-recoveries on LPG and kerosene can be transferred to the Union Budget. The Nirmal Singh Committee report on oil reforms tabled a decade ago had recommended freeing of prices by 2002 but successive governments dithered on the proposal for fear of antagonising the voter. It is only too obvious, experts aver, that the oil companies should become the “fall guys” in an election year. “There is no guarantee that crude prices will stay at this depressed level of $35/barrel forever as much as nobody expected them to crash so rapidly from $147 in mid-2008,” they say. However, the damage has been done and IOC, BPCL and HPCL may end up reporting their first ever net losses for an entire fiscal in 2008-09. They have sought nearly Rs 15,000 crore, in addition to the oil bonds, to make up for losses incurred and this estimate may go up further if the price movements in the fourth quarter are any indication. The question this: will the Centre comply?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Courts Propose, Govt Disposes- Strikes in Oil Sector
Supreme Court may have ruled that it is a Constitutional Right for any body to go on strike in a Democracy but Govt thinks otherwise! Soon a Law soon to ban oil strikes is going to come it seems!!
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/law-soon-to-ban-oil-strikes/425400/
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Maneesh Chhibber Posted: Feb 19, 2009 at 0139 hrs IST
New Delhi: The Government is set to bring a bill in parliament making it illegal for Oil sector employees to go on strike. The Petroleum Sector Employees (Prohibition of Strikes) Bill, 2009 will ban strikes by all categories of employees of oil companies including contractual staff and employee associations, sources in the petroleum ministry told The Indian Express. The bill is likely to be introduced in the current session of parliament, the sources said.
A three-day strike by nearly 55,000 employees of state-owned oil companies demanding higher salaries and perks paralysed the nation last month with fuel pumps and gas outlets running dry and air traffic getting disrupted. The striking oilmen backed off after the government took a tough line, sacking 70-odd officers, invoking ESMA and calling in the Army to maintain supplies.
According to the draft of the proposed law, striking oilmen will face, in addition to strict disciplinary action including summary dismissal, jail terms of up to a year and/or a fine up to Rs 50,000.
But, the most striking feature of the proposed law is that it allows police to arrest striking employees without a warrant. Arrested employees will not be released on bail unless the prosecution has been heard by a magistrate and given an opportunity to oppose the bail plea.
Another tough clause provides for summary trials by designated courts.
Oil employees who will lose their right to strike work if the bill is passed include those involved in exploration, drilling, processing and distribution. They include all types of employees, whether in managerial, supervisory, non-managerial, manual or contractual labour categories.
Sources said many provisions of the proposed law are not in sync with the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 — something that could lead to opposition from some parties.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/law-soon-to-ban-oil-strikes/425400/
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Maneesh Chhibber Posted: Feb 19, 2009 at 0139 hrs IST
New Delhi: The Government is set to bring a bill in parliament making it illegal for Oil sector employees to go on strike. The Petroleum Sector Employees (Prohibition of Strikes) Bill, 2009 will ban strikes by all categories of employees of oil companies including contractual staff and employee associations, sources in the petroleum ministry told The Indian Express. The bill is likely to be introduced in the current session of parliament, the sources said.
A three-day strike by nearly 55,000 employees of state-owned oil companies demanding higher salaries and perks paralysed the nation last month with fuel pumps and gas outlets running dry and air traffic getting disrupted. The striking oilmen backed off after the government took a tough line, sacking 70-odd officers, invoking ESMA and calling in the Army to maintain supplies.
According to the draft of the proposed law, striking oilmen will face, in addition to strict disciplinary action including summary dismissal, jail terms of up to a year and/or a fine up to Rs 50,000.
But, the most striking feature of the proposed law is that it allows police to arrest striking employees without a warrant. Arrested employees will not be released on bail unless the prosecution has been heard by a magistrate and given an opportunity to oppose the bail plea.
Another tough clause provides for summary trials by designated courts.
Oil employees who will lose their right to strike work if the bill is passed include those involved in exploration, drilling, processing and distribution. They include all types of employees, whether in managerial, supervisory, non-managerial, manual or contractual labour categories.
Sources said many provisions of the proposed law are not in sync with the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 — something that could lead to opposition from some parties.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
PSUs cough up record interim dividends
Despite economic slowdown and weak results this fiscal.
Major payouts
NTPC Ltd forked out Rs 2,308.73 crore for 2008-09
SAIL handed over a crisp cheque of Rs 460.81 crore
ONGC board approved 180% interim dividend
Anil Sasi Richa Mishra Anil Sasi Richa Mishra
New Delhi, Feb. 14 A slowdown may well be in the air, but the interim dividends being forked out by the ‘navratna’ public sector undertakings (PSUs) seem oblivious to the worsening economic outlook.
State-owned firms, led by the blue-chip companies in the power and oil sectors, have announced all-time high interim dividends, despite the financial performance so far this fiscal being less than cheerful in most cases.
The biggest beneficiary in all of these PSU dole-outs is the largest shareholder in all of these companies, namely the Government of India.
Leading the charge, power major NTPC Ltd, forked out its highest-ever interim dividend of Rs 2,308.73 crore for 2008-09, of which Rs 2,066.30 crore works out as the Centre’s share.
The electricity generator had reported only a marginal increase of around Rs 13 crore (0.22 per cent) in net profit for the nine-month period of this fiscal.
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) handed over a crisp cheque of Rs 460.81 crore to the Government as the interim dividend for the fiscal, despite reeling under rising input costs and waning demand.
SAIL’s net profit was down 9.1 per cent for the first nine months of this fiscal, compared with the corresponding period last financial year, while the third quarter net nosedived 56 per cent.
Upstream oil PSUs also continued with high dividend payouts despite their bottomlines coming under strain.
The ONGC board approved an interim dividend of 180 per cent for 2008-09, even as its nine month net profit slipped by 1 per cent and the third quarter net fell 43 per cent.
GAIL (India) Ltd announced a 40 per cent dividend for the fiscal just after the third quarter results, which were down from Rs 651 crore to Rs 253 crore, even though the nine-month net was up 16 per cent.
However, the oil marketing companies such as IOC, BPCL and HPCL, which have taken a major hit on their profits, have desisted from announcing any payouts this fiscal.
“There has been an informal directive from the Finance Ministry to administrative ministries governing profitable public-sector companies, especially in the power and petroleum sectors, to pay interim dividends.
“The fiscal giveaways in the stimulus package have resulted in a big spurt in Government spending, and there is pressure on PSUs to maintain last year’s dividend pay-out levels despite the downturn,” a Power Ministry official said.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/02/15/stories/2009021551270100.htm
Major payouts
NTPC Ltd forked out Rs 2,308.73 crore for 2008-09
SAIL handed over a crisp cheque of Rs 460.81 crore
ONGC board approved 180% interim dividend
Anil Sasi Richa Mishra Anil Sasi Richa Mishra
New Delhi, Feb. 14 A slowdown may well be in the air, but the interim dividends being forked out by the ‘navratna’ public sector undertakings (PSUs) seem oblivious to the worsening economic outlook.
State-owned firms, led by the blue-chip companies in the power and oil sectors, have announced all-time high interim dividends, despite the financial performance so far this fiscal being less than cheerful in most cases.
The biggest beneficiary in all of these PSU dole-outs is the largest shareholder in all of these companies, namely the Government of India.
Leading the charge, power major NTPC Ltd, forked out its highest-ever interim dividend of Rs 2,308.73 crore for 2008-09, of which Rs 2,066.30 crore works out as the Centre’s share.
The electricity generator had reported only a marginal increase of around Rs 13 crore (0.22 per cent) in net profit for the nine-month period of this fiscal.
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) handed over a crisp cheque of Rs 460.81 crore to the Government as the interim dividend for the fiscal, despite reeling under rising input costs and waning demand.
SAIL’s net profit was down 9.1 per cent for the first nine months of this fiscal, compared with the corresponding period last financial year, while the third quarter net nosedived 56 per cent.
Upstream oil PSUs also continued with high dividend payouts despite their bottomlines coming under strain.
The ONGC board approved an interim dividend of 180 per cent for 2008-09, even as its nine month net profit slipped by 1 per cent and the third quarter net fell 43 per cent.
GAIL (India) Ltd announced a 40 per cent dividend for the fiscal just after the third quarter results, which were down from Rs 651 crore to Rs 253 crore, even though the nine-month net was up 16 per cent.
However, the oil marketing companies such as IOC, BPCL and HPCL, which have taken a major hit on their profits, have desisted from announcing any payouts this fiscal.
“There has been an informal directive from the Finance Ministry to administrative ministries governing profitable public-sector companies, especially in the power and petroleum sectors, to pay interim dividends.
“The fiscal giveaways in the stimulus package have resulted in a big spurt in Government spending, and there is pressure on PSUs to maintain last year’s dividend pay-out levels despite the downturn,” a Power Ministry official said.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/02/15/stories/2009021551270100.htm
Strikes are not banned under any Law or Court Order- Supreme Court
Strikes are not banned under any Law or Court Order- Supreme Court is what the Apex Court ruled on Monday 15th Feb 2009. So what stops the PSUs, in general and OSOA from going to court whenever Court orders are used to restrain PSU strikers wanting their demands to be met in a democratic manner? Resorting to all sort of repression is totally undemocratic. Even the Supreme court says so!!
We had put up an earlier post here on this Supreme Court judgement here. On Monday it has ruled again.
Read on.. TOI Chennai 16-02-2009
Supreme Court Judgement on Strike
We had put up an earlier post here on this Supreme Court judgement here. On Monday it has ruled again.
Read on.. TOI Chennai 16-02-2009
Supreme Court Judgement on Strike
Monday, February 16, 2009
Vulgarity
In a country like India which allows voting for people being tried for murders and scams on one end of the spectrum and people who appear to be polished but are actually the most cunning of them all and parties who bank on Dynastic Rule or caste based or religion based voting system and a world which is run by moneyed people it was inevitable that the definition of Vulgarity would soon change its meaning. That is why a group of salaried people who were denied a just raise in their salaries were termed anti indian and their method was portrayed as Vulgar by the media channels- the same media channels which showed the auction of Human Beings who were purchased by our buisness people and film stars on whom the whole country swoons! There was no vulgarity in the very thought of such auctions being shown on TV when more than 25 % lives below poverty level. [Even the BPL which is Rs 300/- per mth is a highly reduced figure as what person can survive on a mere Rs 10 per day? Our earlier post on this is here.]
Here is a very good article by Mr Santosh Desai, columnist in TOI on 16-02-2009. Hope he does not mind us hosting it here.
Vulgarity by Santosh Desai
Here is a very good article by Mr Santosh Desai, columnist in TOI on 16-02-2009. Hope he does not mind us hosting it here.
Vulgarity by Santosh Desai
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