India’s government and a clutch of state-owned companies already own 87 percent of ONGC. The only upside for ONGC investors is the price of crude. If that’s fixed, then there’s no reason to own its shares.
This year, Jawan and The Kerala Story both won National Awards. The irony was impossible to miss. One critiqued the system, the other endorsed its narratives. The dichotomy says more about India’s cultural schizophrenia than any film review ever could.
New CPI series will take 2024 as base year, will provide more accurate measure of inflation, spending on digital services. Expected to enhance representation and reliability, says Saurabh Garg.
The agreement, signed after meeting between Rajnath and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on sidelines of ADMM-Plus in Kuala Lumpur, aims to deepen bilateral ties in the critical sector.
This world is being restructured and redrawn by one man, and what’s his power? It’s not his formidable military. It’s trade. With China, it turned on him.
The government’s woes extend beyond taking ONGC private. Given public sentiment over high fuel prices and the imminence of the next general election – perhaps even in Nov / Dec – it must be with a very heavy heart that it is not affording them any relief by cutting excise duties. The state governments are being nudged to cut VAT but they are equally fiscally stretched, with farm loan waivers adding to the burden. 2. The tax structure for fuels got distorted when oil fell to $ 40 or even lower. The entire windfall was soaked up by central / state governments, who thought it would be permanent. They made no provision for a contingency where the gain might prove to be transient. 3. The windfall, ten trillion by some estimates, has masked economic slowdown with its attendant reduced tax buoyancy. We are now getting a clearer picture about how prudently public finances have been managed. There are also no shiny new capital projects to account for where this largesse has been spent.
Given that the bulk of at-pump petrol price in India is tax, why even the question?
The government’s woes extend beyond taking ONGC private. Given public sentiment over high fuel prices and the imminence of the next general election – perhaps even in Nov / Dec – it must be with a very heavy heart that it is not affording them any relief by cutting excise duties. The state governments are being nudged to cut VAT but they are equally fiscally stretched, with farm loan waivers adding to the burden. 2. The tax structure for fuels got distorted when oil fell to $ 40 or even lower. The entire windfall was soaked up by central / state governments, who thought it would be permanent. They made no provision for a contingency where the gain might prove to be transient. 3. The windfall, ten trillion by some estimates, has masked economic slowdown with its attendant reduced tax buoyancy. We are now getting a clearer picture about how prudently public finances have been managed. There are also no shiny new capital projects to account for where this largesse has been spent.