Weekly media update 07 02_2022

670
(This document comprises news clips from various media in which Balmer Lawrie is mentioned, news
related to GOI and PSEs, and news from the verticals that we do business in. This will be uploaded on
intranet and website every Monday.)
Need capex to boost growth, pvt sector
investment: Survey
The Economic Survey has stressed on the need for
capital expenditure to sustain growth, underlining
how the strategy adopted by the government is
expected to create conditions for private sector
investment by generating demand, and also
create employment in the coming months. The
finance ministry’s annual economic report card
has suggested that the government seems to be
on course to achieve the fiscal deficit target during
the current financial year, given that revenue has
been buoyant, with both direct and indirect taxes
showing robust growth. The need to sustain
“targeted focus” on capex is in line with demands
from the private sector for finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman to continue with her strategy.
“The targeted focus on capital expenditure, with
its resulting multiplier effects, will be vital in
sustaining the economic growth. As the economy
grows further, the revenue collection from all the
sources is expected to be more robust, which will
help to strengthen the fiscal position on one hand,
and create fiscal space on the other,” the report
said.
The Times of India - 01.02.2022
https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-
share?article=01_02_2022_013_016_toikc_TOI
Eco shrank 6.6% in FY21, lower than
7.3% estimate
India’s economy contracted by 6. 6% in 2020-
21, narrower than the earlier estimate of 7. 3%
decline, highlighting that the economic damage
inflicted by one of the strictest lockdowns in the
world to ward off spread of coronavirus was less
severe than estimated earlier. Data released by
the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Monday
also showed that the economic slowdown was
sharper at 3. 7% expansion compared to the
earlier estimate of 4% growth for2019-20. The
use of latest available data from various
agencies has resulted in some changes in both
the levels of GVA (gross value added) and
growth estimates for 2018-19 and 2019-20, the
NSO said. The 7. 3% contraction was the
sharpest in nearly four decades as the Covid-19
induced lockdown had hurt the economy. But
the revised data seems to show that the
damage was lower than what was expected. The
lockdown had hurt several key sectors of the
economy, particularly the contact intensive
sectors, such as tourism, hospitality, aviation
and others. The agriculture sector has been the
mainstay of the economic revival, that has
taken place after lifting of curbs. The sharp
contraction had triggered a debate over the
management of the economy and impact of
lockdown.
share?article=01_02_2022_013_013_toikc_TO
I
Survey sees 8.5% growth in FY23, warns
of price pressure
The Economic Survey 2021-22, a largely feelgood
document, has forecast 8-8. 5% expansion in the
next financial year, and called for boosting capital
expenditure to sustain high growth. However, the
optimism is tempered with caution about potential
headwinds such as inflation, especially rising crude
prices, and withdrawal of liquidity globally. The
over 400-page document emphasises the recovery
to pre-pandemic level but also points to the
continuing threat from the virus. The projections
came on a day when the NSO’s revised GDP
Need capex to boost growth, pvt sector
investment: Survey
The Economic Survey has stressed on the need
for capital expenditure to sustain growth,
underlining how the strategy adopted by the
government is expected to create conditions for
private sector investment by generating
demand, and also create employment in the
coming months. The finance ministry’s annual
economic report card has suggested that the
government seems to be on course to achieve
the fiscal deficit target during the current
financial year, given that revenue has been
WEEKLY MEDIA UPDATE
Issue 539
07 February, 2022
Monday

estimates for 2020-21 pegged the economic
contraction at 6. 6%, narrower than the 7. 3%
estimated earlier. Like last year, the Survey
records the sparkling performance of the farm
sector, but also draws satisfaction from the
recovery clocked by manufacturing and the fact
that the second and third waves failed to knock
down the services sector, which accounts for over
50% of the economy. It seems to heave a sigh of
relief that the damage from the deadly Delta
variant was not as severe as initially feared.
buoyant, with both direct and indirect taxes
showing robust growth. The need to sustain
“targeted focus” on capex is in line with
demands from the private sector for finance
minister Nirmala Sitharaman to continue with
her strategy. “The targeted focus on capital
expenditure, with its resulting multiplier effects,
will be vital in sustaining the economic growth.
As the economy grows further, the revenue
collection from all the sources is expected to be
more robust, which will help to strengthen the
fiscal position on one hand, and create fiscal
space on the other,” the report said.
I
Omicron spread: Services PMI falls to
six-month low in January
India’s services sector activity moderated to a six-
month low in January, amid imposition of
restrictions across the country due to the fast
spread of the Omicron variant as well as
inflationary pressures. Data released by the
analytics firm IHS Markit showed the purchasing
managers’ index (PMI) for services fell to 51.5 in
January from 55.5 in December. A reading above
50 indicates expansion in economic activity and a
number below that signals contraction. The data
analytics firm said January data pointed to a
stronger increase in expenses among service
providers, with the overall rate of inflation
climbing to its highest since December 2011.
Survey members noted higher food, fuel, material,
staff and transportation costs. “The escalation of
the pandemic and reintroduction of curfews had a
detrimental impact on growth across the service
sector. Both new business and output rose at
slight rates that were the weakest in six months,”
Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director
at IHS Markit said.
Business Standard - 04.02.2022
https://www.business-
standard.com/article/economy-policy/omicron-
spread-services-pmi-falls-to-six-month-low-in-
january-122020400048_1.html
Sebi should hear Cos’ views on
splitting CMD roles, says FM
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said
the capital markets regulator should hear the
concerns raised by corporate India on the
requirement to split the roles of chairman and
managing director (CMD) by April1, but made it
clear that she was not giving any diktat to an
independent body. In a post-budget interaction
with captains of industry, Sitharaman exhorted
India Inc to “quickly” step up capital
expenditure to aid the virtuous cycle of
investment gain traction and push growth.
The FM also acknowledged the need to be
watchful of the increase in interest rates in
developed countries and the high commodity
prices. Sitharaman responded to the industry’s
concern on the splitting of the positions of
chairman and managing director by April 1,
2022, as mandated by the Securities and
Exchange Board of India. Listed entities were
initially required to separate the roles of
chairperson and MD/CEO by April1, 2020.
However, following industry representations,
the deadline was pushed back by two years.
The Economic Times - 06.02.2022
share?article=06_02_2022_001_011_etkc_ET
Energy prices: India needs to be wary of
imported inflation
India needs to be wary of imported inflation,
especially from elevated global energy prices, the
Economic Survey said on Monday, while stating
that wholesale price inflation, which has been
running in double-digits is largely due to base
effects, that will even out. Inflation has emerged
as a major global policy headache with the US and
the UK reporting multi-year highs. In India too,
price pressures have started building up. Retail
BPCL says no bidder visits in Q3,
privatisation may be pushed to FY23
Privatisation of India's second-largest oil refiner
BPCL may have been pushed back to the next
fiscal year as no bidder visited the firm's
premises in the last quarter, a senior company
official said on Wednesday. The government is
selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL
for which three expressions of interest (EoIs),
including one from billionaire Anil Agarwal-led
Vedanta Group, have been received. Financial

inflation is five-month high of 5. 6% in December,
while WPI (wholesale) inflation has been in
double-digits for the past nine months, despite
moderating in December to 13. 6% from 14. 2%
in November. Rising global crude oil prices have
also posed a risk to the inflation dynamics in India.
The survey said that while seasonality plays a
significant role in the case of vegetables, random
shocks like untimely rains also have an impact on
their availability and prices. “A strong network of
cold storage chains well supported by effective
transport infrastructure is needed to stabilise the
prices of such perishable commodities." It said
both seasonal as well as shock components
contribute to spikes of tomato and onion prices
and added that seasonality in prices, resulting
from seasonal production patterns, require- res
policy attention.
share?article=01_02_2022_014_021_toikc_TOI
bids are yet to be called. At a conference call
with analysts, BPCL Director-Finance V R K
Gupta said the firm continues to update data for
bidders in the fray for the government stake
and is also replying to their queries. During the
third quarter (October-December 2021) "no
major events happened in terms of bidder visits
to our company premises and the status quo is
same”, he said. "We don't have any significant
role in the disinvestment process," he said.
"Whatever due diligence, data requirements are
there, every quarter we update the data
requirements in the portal, and bidders are
continuously accessing the data."
standard.com/article/companies/bpcl-says-no-
bidder-visits-in-q3-privatisation-may-be-
pushed-to-fy23-122020201250_1.html
BPCL, Shipping Corp, BEML among CPSEs
to be privatised next fiscal
The government will move ahead with strategic
sale of Shipping Corporation, BEML and BPCL in
the next financial year, besides initial public
offering of three public sector companies,
including ECGC, a top government official said.
The 2022-23 Budget has projected a
disinvestment target of Rs 65,000 crore for next
financial year.
This is significantly lower than the estimated Rs
1.75 lakh crore budgeted for 2021-22. In the
revised estimates, the target for 2021-22 has
been cut to Rs 78,000 crore. Department of
Investment and Public Asset Management
(DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the
next year's target would be met by a mix of
minority stake sale in CPSEs, listing of CPSEs and
strategic sale. "We have got multiple financial bids
for Pawan Hans, we have to go further on that
process. Shipping Corp, BEML and BPCL are in
financial bids stage. HLL Lifecare and PDIL are in
EoI stage. Besides, next fiscal we will go for listing
of ECGC, WAPCOS and National Seeds Corporation
and some minority stake sale, but there we might
have less bandwidth," Pandey told PTI.
https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne
ws/oil-and-gas/bpcl-shipping-corp-beml-among-
cpses-to-be-privatised-next-fiscal/89336232
Keep fiscal stimulus going, focus on
capex: survey
The Economic Survey has suggested continuing
with fiscal stimulus, if necessary, to support the
economy and said the fiscal deficit target for
2021-22 will be comfortably met. The survey
also said a targeted focus on capital expenditure
will be vital in sustaining economic growth. “The
strong revival in revenues (revenue receipts
were up over 67% from a year earlier in April-
November 2021) means that the government
has fiscal space to provide additional support, if
necessary,” the survey said, making a case for
fiscal stimulus if needed. Economists agreed
with the need for continued fiscal stimulus, but
also called for a calibrated exit from the
expansionary fiscal policy. “There is a
vulnerable segment, which needs hand-holding,
as rightly pointed out by the survey. But the key
will be efficient use of these measures,” Madan
Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda,
told ET. While the thrust on capital expenditure
is right, the fund must be utilised on time to fuel
timely growth, and not in the last quarter as
measures will take some time to have a positive
impact, Sabnavis said. The survey expects tax
collection to remain buoyant in the medium
term, and thus, be on track with the fiscal path
outlined by the Medium-Term Fiscal Policy
Statement.

India's fiscal deficit pegged slightly
higher at 6.9% in FY22
The country's fiscal deficit is projected to be higher
at 6.9 per cent this fiscal as against 6.8 per cent
estimated earlier, with Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman emphasising the need for stronger
and sustainable growth through public
investment. The marginal rise in fiscal deficit for
the current fiscal is against the expectations of the
market and experts who expected a slight decline
in the numbers on the back rising tax collections.
"The fiscal deficit in 2022-23 is estimated at 6.4
per cent of GDP, which is consistent with the broad
path of fiscal consolidation announced by me last
year to reach a fiscal deficit level below 4.5 per
cent by 2025-26. "While setting the fiscal deficit
level in 2022-23, I am conscious of the need to
nurture growth, through public investment, to
become stronger and sustainable," Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the
Union Budget 2022-23 in Parliament, said on
Tuesday. Further, she said, the revised fiscal
deficit, the gap between expenditure and revenue,
in the current year, is estimated at 6.9 per cent of
GDP as against 6.8 per cent projected in the
Budget Estimates previously.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/eco
nomy/indicators/indias-fiscal-deficit-pegged-
slightly-higher-at-6-9-in-
fy22/articleshow/89281379.cms
With 9.2% growth in FY22, economy to
recover 101.3% of FY20 output
With India's real GDP estimated to grow 9.2 per
cent in 2021-22, the economy stands to recover
101.3 per cent of the pre-pandemic output of
2019-20, the Budget documents said on
Tuesday. It further said India's economic
growth is supported by a strong rebound seen
in several high-frequency indicators in the third
quarter of 2021-22 and rapid progress in
vaccination coverage. "As per the first Advance
Estimates of annual national income released by
the National Statistical Office (NSO), India's real
GDP is estimated to grow by 9.2 per cent in
2021-22, as compared to a contraction of 7.3
per cent in 2020-21. "With this, the economy
stands to recover 101.3 per cent of the pre-
pandemic output of 2019-20," the Budget
documents said. On the demand side, it said the
recovery has been broad-based. According to
the documents, investment and exports have
achieved more than full recovery of the
corresponding pre-pandemic 2019-20 levels.
Private consumption has also improved to
recover 97.1 per cent of the corresponding pre-
pandemic levels and stands fully recovered in
the second half of FY 2021-22.
Millennium Post - 02.02.2022
http://www.millenniumpost.in/business/with-
92-growth-in-fy22-economy-to-recover-1013-
of-fy20-output-466900
Economic Survey 2021-22: Costlier oil a
risk to growth forecast
India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) is
expected to grow by 8-8.5 per cent in financial
year 2022-23 (FY23), the Economic Survey of
2021-22 has projected. This is higher than the
Reserve Bank of India’s last forecast of 7.3 per
cent, but lower than the International Monetary
Fund’s 9 per cent. Among other agencies, the
World Bank projected India’s FY23 GDP growth at
8.7 per cent, while the Asian Development Bank
sees it growing at 7.5 per cent. “With the
vaccination programme having covered the bulk of
the population, economic momentum building
back and the likely long-term benefits of supply-
side reforms in the pipeline, the Indian economy
is in a good position to witness GDP growth of 8-
8.5 per cent in 2022-23,” the Survey stated.
However, the growth projection is based on
certain assumptions. These are that there will be
no further debilitating pandemic-related economic
disruption, a normal monsoon, withdrawal of
global liquidity by major central banks will be
broadly orderly, oil prices will be in the $70-75 a
barrel range, and global supply chain disruptions
will steadily ease. Experts feel these assumptions
will weigh on the economy in the year ahead.
Budget pegs FY23 divestment target at
₹65,000 cr, cuts FY22 aim to ₹78,000
cr
The government has set a target to garner
₹65,000 crore from divestment in the financial
year 2022-23. Finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman, in the Budget, also lowered the
divestment target for FY21-22 to ₹78,000 crore
from ₹1.75 lakh crore, indicating that major
divestment proceeds expected from Life
Insurance Corporation of India's IPO and
strategic divestments of BPCL and others may
not come through by March 2022. Divestment
proceeds so far for FY22 have been dismal at
₹12029.9 crore, coming from the offer-for-sale
of NMDC and the sale of some government-
owned shares of Axis Bank. More than
₹40,201.47 crore have come as dividends from
various public sector enterprises. Tuhin Kanta
Pandey, secretary of the department of
investment and public asset management, had
told Mint last week that divestment proceeds
will not be able to hit the ₹1.75 lakh crore mark.
While he had added that LIC disinvestment was
a 'major event' that the department was
working on, the valuation of the assets of LIC
were close to being finalised by the valuer.

standard.com/budget/article/economic-survey-
2021-22-costlier-oil-a-risk-to-growth-forecast-
122020100048_1.html
Mint - 02.02.2022
https://www.livemint.com/budget/news/budge
t-pegs-fy23-divestment-target-at-65-000-cr-
cuts-fy22-aim-to-78-000-cr-
11643702750289.html
Govt may amend provisions of labour
code on wages & industrial relations
The government is mulling a high limit on
allowances at 7580% of the wages of an employee
in the first year of the rollout of the labour code on
wages. This could gradually be brought down to
50% over three years, as specified in the code,
people familiar with the deliberations told ET . The
other major change under consideration is
restoration of the threshold on the number of
employees in an organisation to100 from the
proposed 300 under the industrial relations code
for seeking the government’s permission before
retrenchment or closing down operations. The
industry has resisted a capon allowances at 50%
of wages reasoning it would raise their employee
costs. Under the code, wages include all
remuneration by way of salaries, allowances or
otherwise and include basic pay, dearness
allowance and retaining allowance, if any, but
excludes allowances such as house rent allowance,
overtime allowance among others. The Code on
Wages was passed by the Parliament in 2019 while
the Industrial Relations Code was approved in
September 2020.
India's January fuel sales hit by COVID
curbs, shows preliminary data
Indian state fuel retailers' sales slowed in
January from the previous month after partial
lockdowns in several states to stem the spread
of coronavirus, preliminary sales data showed,
indicating slower industrial activity. The state
retailers sold about 5.6 million tonnes of gasoil
in January, a decline of 12.75 per cent from
December and of 6.85 per cent from a year
earlier, the data showed. Gasoil accounts for
about two-fifth of refined fuel consumption in
India and is directly linked to industrial activity.
Since the start of this year, several states in the
country have imposed varying degrees of
restrictions including weekend curfews to
contain infections caused by the highly
transmissible Omicron variant of the
coronavirus. That led to India's factory activity
growth slowing to a four-month low in January.
The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index,
compiled by IHS Markit from Jan. 12-25, fell to
54.0 in January as curbs hurt new orders and
output, while high price pressures weighed on
business confidence about the year ahead.
https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/
news/oil-and-gas/indias-january-fuel-sales-hit-
by-covid-curbs-shows-preliminary-
data/89288335
India to double down on oil, gas
exploration: Hardeep Singh Puri
India will more than double the area that is under
exploration and production of oil and gas to 0.5
million square kilometre by 2025 and to 1 million
sq km by 2030 with a view to raising domestic
output and cut reliance on imported fuel,
Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on
Friday. The world's third-largest energy consumer
will continue to rely on hydrocarbons to meet its
growing energy needs in the foreseeable future,
he said at the World Energy Policy Summit 2022.
India currently relies on imports to meet 85 per
cent of its oil needs and 50 per cent of the natural
gas requirement. This is because domestic
production is inadequate. "With an objective of
increased domestic production of oil and gas, we
have declared an ambitious target to increase the
area under exploration and production to 0.5
million sq km by 2025 and achieve 1 mn sq km by
2030," he said. Seven rounds of an auction of
ONGC, IOC, others to spend INR 1.11
lakh crore capex in FY23
State-owned oil firms such as ONGC and IOC
will invest over INR 1.11 lakh crore in the next
fiscal year starting April as they supplement the
government's massive spending programme to
spur economic growth. Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation
(IOC), GAIL (India) Ltd, Bharat Petroleum
Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum
Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Oil India Ltd (OIL)
will together make a 7.4 per cent higher capital
expenditure in the 2022-23 fiscal (FY23). The
capex spending of INR 1.11 lakh crore in 2022-
23 compares with a revised estimate of INR
1.04 lakh crore for the current fiscal year that
ends in March, according to Union budget
documents. In the Union Budget for 2022-23,
the government continued on its path of supply-
side economics and plans to boost investments,
thereby increasing jobs and consumption

acreage under the new Open Acreage Licensing
Policy (OALP) in the last five years have doubled
the area under exploration for oil and gas to
207,692 (0.2 million) sq km.
standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-to-
double-down-on-oil-gas-exploration-hardeep-
singh-puri-122020401041_1.html
instead of directly announcing any monetary
relief to the lower end the population.
https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/
news/oil-and-gas/ongc-ioc-others-to-spend-
inr-1-11-lakh-crore-capex-in-fy23/89298020
Union Budget 2022-23: LPG subsidy
pegged at Rs 4,000 crore
The FY23 budgetary estimate for direct benefit
transfer (DBT) subsidy for liquefied petroleum gas
(LPG) has been set at Rs 4,000 crore. Although
the allocation is around 18% higher than the
amount earmarked for FY22 (revised estimate),
the figure is significantly lower than the Rs
23,666.6 crore spent on this account in FY21. The
government had withdrawn the LPG subsidy since
May 2020. “The provision of fuel subsidy for
sensitive petroleum products (DBTL on LPG sales)
may be inadequate in case international prices of
crude oil continue to rise and there is resistance
from consumers to further price hikes,” Prashant
Vasisht, vice president at ICRA said. A study by
the Council on Energy, Environment and Water
(CEEW) had pointed out in September 2021 that
the government not paying any subsidy on a
standard 14.2 kg cylinder has led to rural
households spending nearly 10% of their monthly
expenditure on this cooking fuel. The report noted
that 85% households in the country have LPG
connections, and affordability issues were cited by
80% non-user households for not having an LPG
connection.
The Financial Express - 02.02.2022
https://www.financialexpress.com/budget/union-
budget-2022-23-lpg-subsidy-pegged-at-rs-4000-
crore/2423474/
Centre will bring ATF inclusion in GST
for discussion in next Council meet: FM
The Centre will bring for discussion in the next
meeting of the GST Council the issue of bringing
aviation turbine fuel (ATF) into the goods and
services tax regime, Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman said on Sunday, as she noted that
rising global fuel prices is a "concern". When the
GST was introduced on July 1, 2017,
amalgamating over a dozen central and state
levies, five commodities - crude oil, natural gas,
petrol, diesel and ATF - were kept out of its
purview given the revenue dependence of the
central and state governments on this sector.
Sitharaman, in a post-Budget discussion with
industry chamber Assocham, said a final
decision of inclusion of ATF in GST will be taken
by the Council, which comprise finance
ministers from Central and state governments.
"It is not with ... (the Centre) alone, it has got
to go to the GST Council. The next time we meet
in the Council, I will put it on the table for them
to discuss it," she said. The minister was
responding to views expressed by SpiceJet
Founder Ajay Singh where he sought the
support of the Union finance minister in bringing
ATF into the GST regime.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industr
y/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/centre-will-
bring-atf-inclusion-in-gst-for-discussion-in-
next-council-meet-
fm/articleshow/89387559.cms
ExxonMobil eyes more long-term gas
supply deals with India
Global energy major ExxonMobil is looking at
signing more long-term gas sales deals with India
as rising spot prices have added to the appeal of
longer duration contracts. "We're certainly happy
to work with our friends and partners in India to
sign the kind of long-term contracts that allow a
large part of the energy demand to be de risked
from a price perspective," said Monte Dobson,
CEO, ExxonMobil Gas (India). At present Exxon
has a long-term contract to annually supply 1.5
million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to Indian
firm Petronet LNG. India is the world's fourth
Adani Total Gas to invest Rs 12000 cr
in recently won 14 GAs under CGD
bidding
Adani Total Gas has won licenses to expand its
City Gas Distribution (CGD) network to 14 new
Geographical Areas (GAs) in the recently
concluded 11th round of CGD bidding by the
Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board
(PNGRB). ATGL is now the largest city gas
distribution company catering to 52 GAs, 19 of
which are operated along with its strategic JV
partner Indian Oil Corporation. These 52 GAs
account for 15% of the country covering 124
districts across 18 States and 3 UTs. With an

biggest importer of gas. And the fuel's demand in
India is set to grow as Prime Minster Narendra
Modi has set a target to raise the share of gas in
the country's energy mix to 15% by 2030 from the
current 6.2%. Companies are investing billions of
dollars to build pipelines and gas import terminals
to meet the rising demand in India. Dobson said
India needs to build a "stable base" of long-term
contracts to de-risk its self from price volatility. He
said people who had secured more of their supply
in the long term were "feeling a lot better". "So
that to me is the real solution," Dobson said at
World Energy Policy Summit.
Business World - 05.02.2022
http://www.businessworld.in/article/ExxonMobil-
Eyes-More-Long-Term-Gas-Supply-Deals-With-
India/05-02-2022-419699/
increasing basket of products and services in
the clean energy sector, ATGL is committed to
provide convenient and environment-friendly
natural gas for cooking and water heating to
more than 9 million households, economic
transport fuel for vehicles by establishing
around 2,000 CNG Stations and clean fuel to
industrial and commercial consumers. To
achieve these ambitions, ATGL will be investing
Rs 12,000 crore in these 14 additional GAs,
taking ATGL's total commitment in the clean
energy sector to Rs 20,000 crore.
standard.com/article/news-cm/adani-total-
gas-to-invest-rs-12000-cr-in-recently-won-14-
gas-under-cgd-bidding-122013101385_1.html
Warehousing & Logistics to see more
investments
The warehousing and logistics sector is expected
to attract more investment from institutional funds
and developers, led by the government’s plan to
set up multimodal logistic parks and other
initiatives to connect urban transport to railways.
The government has announced, 25,000 km of
new highways, the Gati Shakti Masterplan for
expressways, 100 new cargo terminals with multi-
modal logistic parks and initiatives to connect
urban transport to railways, which will give a big
boost to new warehousing and logistics facilities
across the country. "We will witness an increase in
investment from institutional funds and
developers as the government has laid the
foundation for a long-term investment. If
implemented in the right way, over the next 10
years we will see a change in the way industry
functions as compared to the last forty year, " said
Logos chief executive Mehul Shah. The sector is
expected to further gain from a favourable
regulatory environment coupled with the
government’s support through policy and reforms,
leading to higher spending on infrastructure and,
in turn, increasing demand for modern
warehousing.
Aviation & travel disappointed
The aviation and travel industry has been
disappointed over no support to the sector even
in the form of reduction in excise duty on
aviation turbine fuel (ATF), which would have
helped them overcome the impact of Covid
better. A reduction in excise duty would have
helped airlines keep their costs in control at a
time when oil prices are going up and ATF prices
are at a record high. Airlines, which had
witnessed a fast passenger rebound after the
second wave of Coid, are struggling to fill planes
due to the third wave caused by Omicron.
Ironically, the disappointment has been in a
year, when the government has allocated
₹62,000 crore as equity infusion in AI Asset
Holding Company Ltd to ensure the transition of
Air India to its new owners – the Tata Group.
“…Having said that we were expecting tax
concession to Aviation industry in the forms of
cut in ATF excise duty and allocation of
concessional finance to airlines to help us come
out of the pandemic,” Ronojoy Dutta, whole
time director and Chief Executive Officer of
IndiGo was quoted in a media statement.
The Economic Times – 03.02.2022
Former petroleum secretary Tarun
Kapoor to be new oil regulator
Former oil secretary Tarun Kapoor was on
Thursday selected to head India's oil and gas
regulator PNGRB, sources said. Kapoor, who
superannuated as secretary of the Ministry of
Petroleum and Natural Gas on November 30,
2021, was selected to be chairman of the
Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board
Panel to choose new chairman of ONGC
Eight months after its head-hunter failed to find
any suitable candidate for top job at ONGC, the
government will deploy a sparingly used
committee approach to find a new chairman and
managing director of India's top oil and gas
producer. Most board level appointments at
public sector companies are done on the basis
of recommendations of the Public Enterprise

(PNGRB) after interviews of over a candidates. His
candidature will now go to the Appointments
Committee of the Cabinet for ratification and once
approved, he would take over. Sources said as
many as 13 candidates, including former chairmen
of ONGC and a former director of IOC, had applied
for the top job at PNGRB. Out of these, the
ministry shortlisted seven candidates. Interviews
were held by a search-cum-selection committee
headed by V K Saraswat, Member (S&T), Niti
Aayog on Thursday and Kapoor was picked for the
top job. Former Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
(ONGC) chairmen Subhash Kumar and Shashi
Shanker as well as G K Satish, who superannuated
as director for planning and business development
from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) a couple of
months back, had applied for the top job.
https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne
ws/oil-and-gas/former-petroleum-secretary-
tarun-kapoor-to-be-new-oil-regulator/89336004
Selection Board (PESB) but the government
head-hunter had in June last year did not find
anyone suitable from nine candidates, including
two serving IAS officers, to head Oil and Natural
Gas Corporation (ONGC). "Keeping in view the
strategic importance and vision for the company
and its future, the Board did not recommend
any candidate and decided to constitute a
Search Committee," PESB had said in a notice
after interviews on June 5, 2021. The panel was
constituted after eight months of that
recommendation on February 4. "The
Appointments Committee of the Cabin(ACC)
has approved selection to the post of Chairman
& Managing Director, ONGC through a Search-
cum-Selection Committee," an official order
said.
Business World - 07.02.2022
http://www.businessworld.in/article/Panel-To-
Choose-ONGC-s-New-Chairman/07-02-2022-
419743/

Weekly media update 07 02_2022

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