Deora moves PMO for Rs20,870-crore oil bonds
21 Dec 2009
Petroleum minister Murli Deora has approached prime minister Manmohan Singh to push for immediate release of Rs20,872-crore worth of bonds to make up for the losses of state-run oil companies.
"I met the prime minister with a request that oil bonds worth Rs20,872 crore be issued immediately," Deora said.
The petroleum ministry has been forced to move the prime minister's office as the finance ministry refused to reimburse subsidy losses to state-run oil marketing companies such as Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum Corp.
Since the beginning of the current financial year (April 2009), the finance ministry has been sitting tight on the issue of bonds for compensating oil PSUs, although the government, earlier this year, had assured to compensate IOC, HPCL and BPCL for losses incurred on selling domestic LPG and kerosene through PDS by way of oil bonds.
Deora said he had twice written to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee for issuance of oil bonds but with no avail. The finance ministry has also made no provision for oil bonds in the supplementary demands of grants, he added.
The three companies are estimated to have lost revenues of Rs11,853 crore during April-September and is expected to lose Rs9,019 crore revenue in the third quarter ending 31 December 2009.
