Government approves one-time grant of Rs 22,000 crore for oil marketing PSUs – Times of India
NEW DELHI: Amid surging prices of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) in the country, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a one-time grant of Rs 22,000 crore for oil marketing companies in public sector undertakings (PSUs).
Announcing the decisions taken at the cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Thakur said that the grant has been given to reduce the burden of rising prices on common people.
State-owned OMCs have been incurring a loss on sale of domestic cooking gas LPG below cost in the last 2 years from June 2020 to June 2022, Thakur said during the briefing.
The grant has been given to 3 OMCs: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL). All 3 firms sell domestic LPG at government-regulated prices to consumers.
Between June 2020 to June 2022, the international prices of LPG soared by around 300 per cent.
However, to insulate consumers from fluctuations in international LPG prices, the cost increase was not fully passed on to consumers of domestic LPG, an official statement said.
Accordingly, domestic LPG prices have risen by only 72 per cent during this period, it said adding this led to significant losses for the three firms.
“Despite these losses, the three PSU OMCs have ensured continuous supplies of this essential cooking fuel in the country. The government has therefore decided to give a one-time grant to the three PSU OMCs for these losses in domestic LPG,” it said.
Apart from grant to oil PSUs, here are the other major decisions announced by the cabinet:
* Productivity linked bonus to railways: A bonus of Rs 1,832 crore will be given to 11.27 lakh employees of railways. It will be a bonus of 78 days and Rs 17,951 will be its maximum limit, said Anurag Thakur.
* Amendment to multi-state cooperative societies law: The Union Cabinet also approved the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 with the objective of making it more transparent.
The new Bill seeks to amend the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002. It will incorporate the provisions of the 97th Constitutional Amendment, Thakur said.
* Container port terminal: The cabinet also gave approval to development of container terminal at Deendayal Port in Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs 4,539.84 crore.
* Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East: The Union Cabinet also approved a new scheme ‘Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region’ (PM-DevNE) for the remaining 4 years of the 15th finance commission from 2022-23 to 2025-26.
(With inputs from agencies)
Announcing the decisions taken at the cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Thakur said that the grant has been given to reduce the burden of rising prices on common people.
State-owned OMCs have been incurring a loss on sale of domestic cooking gas LPG below cost in the last 2 years from June 2020 to June 2022, Thakur said during the briefing.
The grant has been given to 3 OMCs: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL). All 3 firms sell domestic LPG at government-regulated prices to consumers.
Between June 2020 to June 2022, the international prices of LPG soared by around 300 per cent.
However, to insulate consumers from fluctuations in international LPG prices, the cost increase was not fully passed on to consumers of domestic LPG, an official statement said.
Accordingly, domestic LPG prices have risen by only 72 per cent during this period, it said adding this led to significant losses for the three firms.
“Despite these losses, the three PSU OMCs have ensured continuous supplies of this essential cooking fuel in the country. The government has therefore decided to give a one-time grant to the three PSU OMCs for these losses in domestic LPG,” it said.
Apart from grant to oil PSUs, here are the other major decisions announced by the cabinet:
* Productivity linked bonus to railways: A bonus of Rs 1,832 crore will be given to 11.27 lakh employees of railways. It will be a bonus of 78 days and Rs 17,951 will be its maximum limit, said Anurag Thakur.
* Amendment to multi-state cooperative societies law: The Union Cabinet also approved the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 with the objective of making it more transparent.
The new Bill seeks to amend the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002. It will incorporate the provisions of the 97th Constitutional Amendment, Thakur said.
* Container port terminal: The cabinet also gave approval to development of container terminal at Deendayal Port in Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs 4,539.84 crore.
* Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East: The Union Cabinet also approved a new scheme ‘Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region’ (PM-DevNE) for the remaining 4 years of the 15th finance commission from 2022-23 to 2025-26.
(With inputs from agencies)
