
New Delhi: CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in a gas deal that he says deliberately favours Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).
Dasgputa also called for Oil Minister Veerappa Moily to step down for favouring RIL. He said if RIL's sale price of gas to the government is accepted, the government's subsidy burden would rise by Rs 36,000 crore.
He said the corresponding profit to RIL would be Rs 32,400 crores. "It is a mega scam. Our Petroleum Minister is working consistently to favour Reliance. This is helping Reliance earn massive profits and is damaging the Indian economy," he alleged.
But the government downplayed his comments. "We have not seen the proposal. When a proposal comes, it has to be approved by the Cabinet. Why is Gurudas Dasgupta jumping the gun. No decision has been made so far," said Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy....
more

11:23 AM, May 24, 2013

New Delhi: India's cable makers face a severe shortage of copper and potential manufacturing delays after the closure of the country's two biggest copper smelters, which has pushed up prices and led to a spike in imports. India's biggest smelter, owned by Sterlite Industries, was shut on March 30 after local residents complained of emissions that led to breathing difficulties, forcing top copper users to rely on rival Hindalco Industries...

02:10 PM, May 22, 2013

New Delhi: Sterlite Industries' copper smelter will remain shut until at least May 22 when a court will resume hearing into complaints of emissions from India's largest smelter. Justice Swatanter Kumar of the National Green Tribunal, a fast-track environmental court, asked the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board on Thursday to give data on the emissions from the Tuticorin plant before the court resumes hearing on May 22. The facility meets...

05:50 PM, May 16, 2013

Mumbai: State-owned energy major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Thursday reclaimed the spot as the country's most-valued company, pushing IT giant TCS to the second slot. At the end of trade, ONGC commanded a market value of Rs 2,89,047 crore. This is about Rs 4,428 crore more than TCS's market cap of Rs 2,84,619 crore. ONGC scrip ended 0.82 per cent higher, while TCS lost 1.02 per cent...

04:53 PM, May 16, 2013

New Delhi: Oil Ministry's proposal for an across-the-board near doubling of natural gas prices has been rejected by the Cabinet Secretariat saying a ministerial panel headed by Defence Minister AK Antony did not have powers to do so. The Ministry had sent a draft proposal for the consideration of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to price all domestically produced natural gas - be of state-run ONGC or private sector...

04:18 PM, May 15, 2013

New Delhi: Reliance Industries' billionaire chief Mukesh Ambani has kept his annual salary capped at Rs 15 crore for the fifth year in a row, while foregoing nearly Rs 24 crore from the remuneration approved for him by shareholders. Ambani has kept his salary at the country's biggest private sector entity, RIL, unchanged at this level since the fiscal 2008-09. "The Chairman and Managing Director's compensation has been set at...

02:00 PM, May 12, 2013

New Delhi: Country's largest copper smelter will remain shut for now as a local environmental court transferred a case over its closure to New Delhi, extending a month-long closure at the facility that meets half of the country's copper demand. Sterlite Industries smelter was closed on March 30, putting about 3,000 tonnes per day of copper concentrates onto the market and sending fees to process them to a five-month high...

01:53 PM, Apr 29, 2013

Mumbai: Shares of Lanco Infratech Ltd on Monday surged 18 per cent in morning trade, after its Australian subsidiary, Griffin Coal, said the protracted litigation for a claim of AUD 3.5 billion initiated by Perdaman Chemicals against it has been settled. Cheering the news, shares of the company shot-up by 17.88 per cent to Rs 12.39 on the BSE. At NSE, the scrip jumped 18 per cent to Rs 12.40....

01:26 PM, Apr 29, 2013

Hyderabad: Griffin Coal, a subsidiary of Lanco Infratech Ltd in Australia, on Monday said the protracted litigation for a claim of AUD 3.5 billion initiated by Perdaman Chemicals against it has been settled. According to a release issued by Lanco, the Australian coal miner has agreed to pay Perdaman a nominal amount of AUD 7.5 million, plus legal costs to be taxed by the Court, without admission of any of...

10:37 AM, Apr 29, 2013

New Delhi: Reliance Industries' telecommunications arm will use Bharti Airtel's submarine cable network to provide data connectivity across Asia Pacific, the two Indian companies said on Tuesday. The i2i cable network connects India to Singapore and is wholly owned by Bharti, India's top mobile phone carrier. Bharti and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, unit of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries, will continue to build on this "strategic framework" and consider other mutual...

11:47 AM, Apr 23, 2013

New Delhi: Left parties on Monday lashed out at the government for providing armed commando cover to top corporate leader Mukesh Ambani, saying the common people have been left in the lurch as gruesome incidents of rape keep happening. "It is unprecedented that at a time when such ghastly and gruesome incidents of rape are taking place and people are demanding more security, Z-plus category of security is given to...

04:20 PM, Apr 22, 2013

New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani has said he will be paying for his Z-category security. The DG of CRPF had earlier told CNN-IBN that it would cost Rs 14 lakh a month to provide Mukesh Ambani the security which includes salary, supervision and escort charges. Earlier, Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Admi Party had protested against the VIP security being provided to Mukesh Ambani. Mukesh Ambani is...

02:59 PM, Apr 22, 2013

New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani is the new entrant to the 'Z' category VIP security club after the Union Home Ministry recently approved an armed commando squad following threat perception to the business tycoon. The Home Ministry has tasked country's lead anti-Naxal operations force CRPF to take the responsibility with immediate effect after the proposal to this effect was cleared by the office of Home Minister Sushil...

05:54 PM, Apr 21, 2013

Mumbai: Reliance Industries shares fell as much as 2.4 per cent on Wednesday after its revenue growth for the January-March quarter missed analyst estimates while profits were broadly in line. Reliance said on Tuesday that net profit for the March quarter rose 32 per cent, but revenue fell 1.4 per cent from a year earlier. The results were out after the close of markets. Shares were down 2.4 per cent...

10:45 AM, Apr 17, 2013

Mumbai: Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd posted a 32 per cent rise in its quarterly profit on Tuesday, as a rebound in margins at its core refining business offset falling oil and gas revenue. Reliance, controlled by India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, said net profit in its fiscal fourth quarter which ended on March 31 rose 32 per cent from a year earlier to a higher-than-expected 55.89 billion rupees. Revenue,...

07:27 PM, Apr 16, 2013

Jeedimetla: Andhra Pradesh is reeling under its worst power crisis, and bearing the brunt of it are small and medium scale industries, which are losing 70 per cent of their revenues due to lack of electricity. Several industries are now standing on the brink of shutting down. Once a bustling industrial town, Jeedimetla now wears a grim look. Andhra Pradesh's power crisis had brought small and medium scale industries to...

09:45 AM, Apr 15, 2013

Chennai: The National Green Tribunal on Friday said a four-member committee would be set up to study the current status of the controversial copper smelting plant of Sterlite Industries at Tuticorin. The committee, comprising two members from the Tribunal and one each from Sterlite Industries and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), would submit its report on April 29 on the functioning of the plant, said the bench of Justice...

05:38 PM, Apr 12, 2013

Chennai: A day-long general strike demanding permanent closure of the copper smelter plant of Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd will be held on Monday at Tuticorin, said MDMK party general secretary Vaiko on Saturday. The company is part of Britain-based Vedanta Resources Group. In a statement issued here, MDMK founder Vaiko said the anti-Sterlite movement has called for a one-day general strike demanding the permanent closure of the copper smelter plant...

01:25 PM, Apr 06, 2013

Shares in Reliance Communications extended gains on Wednesday, a day after announcing a fiber optic network sharing deal with Reliance Jio Infocomm, a unit of Reliance Industries, which is widely seen as benefiting both companies. ...

10:10 AM, Apr 03, 2013

President Pranab Mukherjee will present the National Awards to successful Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and banks on Wednesday. The National Awards were instituted by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in 1983 to felicitate the outstanding performers in the sector in various areas like entrepreneurship, research and development, product quality and innovation, an official statement said. ...

03:50 AM, Apr 03, 2013